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Today in Interstate History

Interstate 16 in Georgia. Photo courtesy of AARoads (Alex Nitzman and Andy Field).

September 22, 1978

The final segment of I-16 in Georgia – specifically the 25.5 miles spanning Emanuel, Candler, and Bulloch Counties in the Peach State – was opened to traffic. Altogether, that 166.81-mile-long highway stretches from Savannah on the Atlantic coast to I-75 at the city of Macon. The route has the distinction of being only one of 13 two-digit highways in the Interstate System that are both continuous and located only within a single state. Officially named the James Gillis, Sr., Memorial Highway after a longtime Georgia Highway Department director, I-16 is also both an important economic corridor and vital hurricane evacuation route.

Photo courtesy of AARoads (Alex Nitzman and Andy Field).