Highway 45

When I was a child, I often went with my parents or occasionally my sister to Mississippi State University. Highway 45 was a two-lane highway from just north of Lauderdale all the way north to the Crossroads and beyond.

The Crossroads of my youth and college days have long past. Watering holes that I passed while going from home to college and back are gone.

I remember Electric Mills actually having some substance at least on the highway. Now there's even less.

I remember stopping at restaurants, gas stations, and convenience stores. There was one particular convenience store in Porterville I liked. It's long been closed now.

When I was an undergraduate at MSU, the 1987 Four-Lane Highway Program was started. Yesterday, the final section of Highway 45-Alternate was opened to four-lane traffic.

Last month, I traveled that final two-lane section when I left a conference for my mother's house in Hattiesburg. I don't know the next time I'll be driving on Highway 45, but I won't miss all the hills of Kemper County that were tamed due to the highway upgrades.