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Interstate 555
Interstate 555
	I-555 highlighted in red
Route information
	Auxiliary route of I-55
	Maintained by ArDOT
Length	49.57 mi (79.78 km)
Existed	March 11, 2016–present
NHS	Entire route
Major junctions
South end	I-55 / US 61 / US 78 / AR 77 in Turrell
	US 49 / US 78 in Jonesboro
North end	US 63 / AR 18 / AR 91 in Jonesboro
Location
Country	United States
State	Arkansas
Counties	Crittenden, Poinsett, Craighead
Highway system
	Interstate Highway System; Main; Auxiliary; Suffixed; Business; Future; Arkansas Highway System; Interstate; US; State; Business; Spurs; Suffixed; Scenic; Heritage;

Interstate 555 (I-555) is an Interstate Highway connecting I-55 in Turrell with Highway 91 in Jonesboro. It provides a complete freeway corridor between Jonesboro, Arkansas's fifth-largest city, and Memphis, Tennessee. Formerly known as U.S. Route 63 (US 63), the highway was converted in the early 2000s to Interstate Highway standards. I-555 was dedicated in March 2016.

Route description

I-555 begins at an interchange of I-55, US 61, and AR 77 in Turrell. I-55 goes south to Memphis, Tennessee. The road parallel to the Interstate, AR 463, is a former alignment of US 63. I-555 passes through farmland and Gilmore. Then, it passes through Tyronza and Marked Tree. The section between Marked Tree and Payneway is also used for farm equipment vehicles to drive on. Next, it passes through Trumann before entering Jonesboro. It briefly has an overlap with US 49. I-555 ends in Jonesboro at an interchange with AR 91; from there, the road continues as US 63.

History

The I-555 route was approved on January 10, 2001, consisting of a widened section of US 63 between Turrell to Jonesboro to Interstate Highway standards. A few mainline bridges between Marked Tree and Turrell are from original two-lane US 63 and are narrower than current standards, but I-530 was approved in 1999 despite having a similar issue.

The last requirement to formally designate this route as I-555 was the construction of a parallel access road across a floodway between Payneway and Marked Tree, so that farm equipment would no longer have to use US 63 to cross the floodway. No crossing has ever been built, but an exemption for agricultural vehicles was added to I-555 between Marked Tree and Payneway. The exemption was introduced by U.S. Representative Rick Crawford and passed as part of the House Transportation Bill on December 4, 2015. It was announced in December 2015 that I-555 would be officially designated in early 2016.^[4] In early 2016, signs along the section of the highway cautioned travelers that there may be farm equipment driving on the roadway. The road was officially dedicated on March 11, 2016, in Jonesboro.^[5] In 2021, US 63 was rerouted off the entire route of I-555, but a short extension on November 23 of that same year redesignated US 63 along a section of I-555 again.^[6]

Future

ARDOT is currently running studies that will determine whether improvements to interchanges and cross-streets are needed for I-555 in Craighead County. Public meetings about the study were held in December 2021 and October 2023.^[7] Comments about the study were also requested between October and December 2023.^[8]^[9]

Exit list

County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Crittenden	Turrell	0.0	0.0	1	I-55 / US 61 south / AR 77 south / US 78 – Turrell, Blytheville, Memphis TN	Southern end of AR 77 concurrency; I-55 exit 23; signed as exits 1A (I-55/US 61 south) and 1B (I-55 north); US 61 north and AR 77 south continue past interchange
Crittenden	Gilmore	1.9	3.1	2	AR 77 north – Gilmore	Northern end of AR 77 concurrency
Poinsett		7.1	11.4	7	AR 135 – Lepanto
	Tyronza	8.7	14.0	8	AR 118 – Tyronza
	Marked Tree	13.2	21.2	13	AR 149 – Marked Tree, Earle
	Marked Tree	14.2	22.9	14	AR 75 south – Marked Tree, Lepanto, Parkin
		18.2	29.3	18	AR 14 west – Payneway, Harrisburg
		24.0	38.6	24	AR 463 – Trumann
	Trumann	28.7	46.2	29	AR 69 – Trumann
Craighead	Bay	34.6	55.7	35	AR 463 – Bay
	Jonesboro	36.2	58.3	36	Nestlé Road
		39.1	62.9	39	AR 18S (Dr. Martin Luther King Drive) / US 78 east	Southern end of US 78 concurrency
		40.3	64.9	40	AR 463 south (Nettleton Avenue)
		41.7	67.1	42	US 49 north / AR 1 (Stadium Boulevard/Red Wolf Boulevard) / Caraway Road – Paragould	Southern end of US 49 concurrency; former AR 173
		43.4	69.8	44	AR 1B (Harrisburg Road)
		44.8	72.1	45	US 49 south / US 63 south / AR 18 east / US 78 west (Southwest Drive)	Northern end of US 49/78 concurrency; southern end of US 63/AR 18 concurrency
		45.8	73.7	46	AR 226 west (Wood Springs Road) / Strawfloor Road
		47.1	75.8	47	Washington Avenue
		49.4	79.5	49	AR 91 (AR 18 west / Dan Avenue) / US 63 north	Northern end of AR 18 concurrency; northern end of freeway; northern terminus of I-555
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus