Over the weekend, I visited Greenville MS and checked out the US 82/278 bypass. The project is closing in on completion with most paving down and striping underway. The bypass appears to be built to freeway standards other than the gravel shoulders. New signs are mostly up on the bypass.
There will be 3 unnumbered interchanges:
- MS 182 East / MS 454 East - Downtown Greenville
- MS 1 - Dr Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
- To MS 182 West - Broad St / Leland
The freeway signage does confirm that the old route will be MS 182. Based on the signage at the east end, the terminus will be a new intersection just east of Broad St. It is possible this will be unsigned since the sign emphasis is for MS 182 traffic to exit at Broad St then turn onto MS 182.
The MS 182/454 exit is partially open, and MS 454 is now on its new slightly shorter route ending at the new bypass. US 82 traffic enters and exits here to transition from the MS River bridge approach over to the existing route. The S curve and other excess pavement has been or is being removed. The old highway to the casino and the old river bridge is not signed as MS 182.
I haven't seen when the bypass will be opened, but there will need to be some TM work to move US 82 & US 278 to the bypass, truncate MS 454 from the old road to the bypass, add a new MS 182 segment, and change point names from US 82/278 to MS 182.
