Interstate 20 - Definition and Overview

Interstate 20 is an interstate highway in the southeastern United States. It goes from near Kent, Texas at Interstate 10 to Florence, South Carolina at Interstate 95.

Length

Major cities along the route

• Fort Worth, Texas
• Dallas, Texas
• Tyler, Texas
• Longview, Texas
• Shreveport, Louisiana
• Monroe, Louisiana
• Vicksburg, Mississippi
• Jackson, Mississippi
• Meridian, Mississippi
• Tuscaloosa, Alabama
• Birmingham, Alabama
• Atlanta, Georgia
• Augusta, Georgia
• Columbia, South Carolina

Intersections with other Interstates

• Interstate 10 in Kent, Texas
• Interstate 30 in Fort Worth, Texas
• Interstate 35 in the Dallas, Texas area has two spurs. I-20 connects with I-35W in Fort Worth, Texas and I-35E in Dallas, Texas.
• Interstate 45 in Dallas, Texas
• Interstate 49 in Shreveport, Louisiana
• Interstate 55 in Jackson, Mississippi
• Interstate 59 in Meridian, Mississippi. These roads stay connected until Birmingham, Alabama.
• Interstate 65 in Birmingham, Alabama
• Interstate 75 in Atlanta, Georgia
• Interstate 85 in Atlanta, Georgia
• Interstate 26 in Columbia, South Carolina
• Interstate 77 in Columbia, South Carolina
• Interstate 95 in Florence, South Carolina

Spur routes

• Fort Worth, Texas - I-820
• Shreveport, Louisiana - I-220
• Jackson, Mississippi - I-220
• Augusta, Georgia - I-520

Notes

• Until 1971, I-20 passed through downtown Dallas, Texas and Fort Worth, Texas along the Dallas/Fort Worth Turnpike, a route now signed as Interstate 30 (and called the Tom Landry Freeway). I-30 ended at the border of Dallas and Mesquite, Texas. When I-20 was built through Arlington and Grand Prairie, it took over the southern portions of Fort Worth's loop I-820 and Dallas' three-quarter-loop I-635.

• In 1987, the I-20 designation was moved to a cutoff from Terrell, Texas to the southeast Dallas suburb of Balch Springs. Most of the bypassed segment of I-20 was already designated US 80, but that still left a three-mile (5 km) segment of old I-20 west of Terrell with no designation. It is now (2004) signed westbound as "To US 80" and eastbound as "To I-20", and is officially designated as "Texas Spur 557". Note that the problem would have been avoided -- to the benefit of mapmakers and drivers alike -- if the Texas Department of Transportation had requested AASHTO designate the highway from Terrell to the I-30 intersection as "I-120", or perhaps "I-130".

• There were two Interstate 420s that were never completed. One was to be a bypass around Monroe, Louisiana, but it was never built. The other I-420 was planned as a bypass to the south of downtown Atlanta. Due to anti-freeway sentiments, I-420 was never completed, and the already-built portion has been signed as GA 154/GA 166.

• I-20 is also the nickname of a hip-hop artist from Atlanta.

• The North Carolina Department of Transportation in 2004 announced plans to extend I-20 eastward into Wilmington, North Carolina. The new I-20 would follow US 76 from Florence, South Carolina to Whiteville, North Carolina, and then parallel US 74 into Wilmington. While this extension has considerable support among towns in southeastern North Carolina, the South Carolina DOT has stated that they have no plans to upgrade their portion of US 76 to receive a designation as an Interstate.