and Business US 61, Vicksburg

WB at current US 80 (following I-20 stealthily), and Business US 61 continues on. Apparently most of the business route is city-maintained.


In and exiting the welcome center just above the I-20 interchange. The welcome center includes a short walk to a very interesting attraction - and by short walk, I mean 10 seconds or less.


A few views of the I-20/US 80 bridge looking west at Louisiana, but then an older and more interesting truss bridge comes into the picture. That's original US 80, a narrow concrete-paved two lane road that must be an absolute joy to drive as long as no one's coming the other way. Apparently, the lanes were only 9 feet wide, such that oncoming trucks would end up brushing each other's mirrors off (or on the bridge railings) to avoid hitting each other. Now add a train into the equation...


I think the bridge looks better without the New Wave silver paint job. It was actually built in 1930, though there's not a plaque for that.


More views of the old bridge, which shared a railroad track that's still active. Therefore, the bridge must be kept in decent shape, especially because track maintenance vehicles still get to use the original highway (and I am sure jealous). My photos do a great job exaggerating the angle that the road descends to the railroad, one of the only bridges in the nation where a railroad and regular road are/were at grade next to each other.
WB and EB views at the old toll plaza. I assume tolls were not collected after some point (was it 1947 when the county bought it?), but the tollbooth was never taken down, which makes the Mississippi side that much more historic. As you can see, you can walk right up to and around the tollbooth until you get to the gate behind.


More views of the old and new bridges from farther up the river.


On the other end of Vicksburg, WB and just before the header photo, and the only photo not on Business US 61.

Onto current US 61

Onto I-20
Into Louisiana on (current) US 80
Back to Mississippi Roads
Back to Roads