Officials to break ground for I-269 loop this month

DESOTO COUNTY — Mississippi transportation commissioner Mike Tagert says a groundbreaking will be held June 23 at the Marshall-DeSoto county line for the first section of four phases of the Interstate 269 Loop.

I-269 loops around Memphis to feed traffic from Interstate 40 into DeSoto County.

The Commercial Appeal reports that Tagert told local officials in Southaven this week that the loop fits his vision of merging safer, more efficient roadways into development strategies.

He says the connector would absorb traffic heading south from Nashville on I-40, channel it around Memphis, and flow it on I-55 south into Marshall and DeSoto counties.

He says the project will cost about $600 million.

In Marshall County, officials have been working with the state to build I-269 from the DeSoto line to Tennessee Highway 385.

Source: The Commercial Appeal