Magnolia Way, officially designated as Mississippi Highway 780 (MS 780), is a short unsignedstate highway in northeastern Mississippi. The road starts at County Road 203 (CR 203), and travels southeastward as a frontage road of the concurrence of Interstate 22 (I-22) and U.S. Route 78 (US 78). It intersects the entrance of the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Mississippi (TMMMS), located near Blue Springs. Magnolia Way ends at its intersection with MS 9 south of Sherman. Construction of the road began in 2007 to serve TMMMS, and it opened on August 24, 2009, two years before the manufacturing plant opened.
West of the village of Blue Springs, Magnolia Way starts at CR 203 of Union County, and begins travelling southeastward. Surrounded by forests, the road parallels the concurrence of I-22 and US 78, acting as a frontage road for the highway.[3] About one-half mile (0.80 km) later, the road travels under a railroad coming from TMMMS and transitions into a four-lane road. Magnolia Way shifts southward near the I-22/US 78-MS 9 interchange, then intersects another frontage road leading to the entrance to the manufacturing plant. It is followed by a connector to MS 9 and the partial cloverleaf interchange to I-22 and US 78. It intersects Corolla Lane (CR 207) east of the plant and shifts eastward, closer to the interstate highway. The road intersects Line Road,[7] and enters Pontotoc County.[3] Magnolia Way enters the corporate limits of the town of Sherman, and travels southward afterwards, turning away from the triplex I-22, US 78 and MS 9. It crosses Town Creek and gently curves eastward out of the town. The road then ends at a three-way junction at MS 9 outside of Sherman, south of its interchange with I-22 and US 78.[4]
History
In March 2007, the Mississippi Legislature passed a $323.9 million incentive package for worker training, site construction, and infrastructure improvements, after Toyota announced its plans to build a manufacturing plant near Blue Springs.[8] A fraction of the package, $43 million, was used to construct new roads and improve existing ones in the area to accommodate the new plant. The project to construct Magnolia Way started soon after the package was approved, and the road opened on August 24, 2009, ahead of schedule.[9] The manufacturing plant produced its first vehicle in November 2011,[10] after an economic downturn caused construction to cease from 2008 to 2010.[11]
^Mississippi Department of Transportation (2016). "MDOT Traffic Count Application". Mississippi Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on March 1, 2019. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
^ abcdMississippi Department of Transportation (2015). Union County, Mississippi(PDF) (Map). c. 1:63,360. Jackson: Mississippi Department of Transportation. Archived from the original(PDF) on February 10, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
^ abcMississippi Department of Transportation (2015). Pontotoc County, Mississippi(PDF) (Map). c. 1:63,360. Jackson: Mississippi Department of Transportation. Archived from the original(PDF) on February 11, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
^Ayres, Jeff (November 17, 2011). "Miss. Corolla era to begin". The Clarion-Ledger. Jackson, Mississippi. p. 1. Retrieved June 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
CR 203 near Blue Springs
MS 9 near Sherman
