million. The project is the most expensive highway project ever undertaken in Jefferson County, and it is the highest-priced contract awarded by the ALDOT as of 2010. On November 12, 2012, ALDOT's application for establishing I-22 was conditionally approved by AASHTO at a special committee, pending for MDOT to submit their own application for I-22 and FHWA approval. This therefore officially established the existence of I-22. In April 2013, the first actual I-22 shields were deployed in Marion County, Alabama, immediately east of the Mississippi state line. Such signs will extend east at least through Walker County into the outskirts of Birmingham. On August 21, 2014, ALDOT reported that I-22's interchange with I-65 would not be completed until October 2015. The interchange's connections via exit 95 to I-65 and the continuation under I-65 as exit 95C at US 31 remained under construction. In March 2016, the interchange with I-65 and continuation to US 31 was still under construction. New lanes north and southbound were opened on I-65 passing through the interchange and construction and painting operations were carried out on the I-22 entrance and exit ramps. The interchange to I-65 opened to traffic on June 20, 2016, while the connector to US 31 remained under construction. Mississippi officials announced May 5, 2015, that the state officially began the process to designate its portion as I-22. The two requirements to be able to apply for this designation were to upgrade the route to Interstate standards and to connect to an existing Interstate within 25 years; this was completed when I-269 was opened in December 2017. The I-65 interchange was opened in October 2015. The route was officially signed in Mississippi in a ceremony on October 23, 2015. Exit list Auxiliary routes Interstate 222 Interstate 222 (I-222) is a future Auxiliary Interstate Highway to be a connector between I-22 and the proposed I-422 near Birmingham, Alabama. There will be no exits other than its termini. The highway has been proposed because an interchange directly between I-22 and I-422 cannot be built because of environmental issues. AASHTO approved the designation on May 18, 2012. Construction on this new route has not been scheduled at this time. Interstate 422 I-422 is a future northwestern bypass of Birmingham, connecting between I-20/I-59, from the southwest, and I-59, in the northeast. It will also be connected with I-22 via I-222, in Brookside, located northwest of Birmingham. It