Interstate 440 in Tennessee
| I-440 | |||
| Get started | Nashville | ||
| End | Nashville | ||
| Length | 7 mi | ||
| Length | 12 km | ||
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Interstate 440 or I -440 is an Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The highway forms a southern bypass of the state capital Nashville. Interstate 440 is 12 miles long.
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Travel directions
I-440 forms a southern bypass of downtown Nashville, between Interstate 40 on the west and Interstate 24 on the east, with a stack interchange halfway with Interstate 65. I-440 has 2×3 lanes and leads through the somewhat older residential areas 4 to 5 kilometers from the center. I-440 fulfills a role for urban traffic, but can also be used as a bypass of the center. For east-west traffic, three routes are available around Nashville, I-40 through downtown, I-440 as the downtown bypass, and I-840 as the entire metropolitan area bypass.
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History
I-440 was built relatively late because Nashville started growing relatively late. In 1986, the southern portion opened between I-65 and I-24, and in 1987 the western portion opened between I-40 and I-65. The star interchange with I-65 is the only stack in the state of Tennessee. Originally planned as the Four-Forty Parkway and truck traffic was not allowed, the highway was eventually opened to all traffic.
In 2019-2020, the entire I-440 was reconstructed for $152.9 million. The concrete from the 1980s has been replaced by asphalt. I-440 already had 2×3 lanes but these were at the stack of I-65 2×2 through traffic. This has also been widened to 3 lanes in each direction.
Traffic intensities
Every day, 81,000 to 97,000 vehicles drive between I-40 and I-65 and 102,000 vehicles between I-65 and I-24.
Interstate 55 in Tennessee
| I-55 | |||
| Get started | Memphis | ||
| End | Memphis | ||
| Length | 12 mi | ||
| Length | 20 km | ||
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Interstate 55 or I -55 is an Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The highway is located entirely within the city limits of Memphis. The route is 20 kilometers long.
Travel directions
The Memphis & Arkansas Bridge over the Mississippi River.
I-55/I-240 in Memphis.
Interstate 55 in Mississippi comes from Jackson and crosses the border into Tennessee, directly entering the city of Memphis. I-55 has 2×4 lanes here and runs through the southern suburbs of the city. It then interchanges with Interstate 240, which forms the Memphis ring road. I-55 then curves west and is actually part of the Memphis ring road. Just before Downtown Memphis, a cloverleaf road follows with US 61 and US 79, where all through traffic must turn off. Then follows the narrow Memphis & Arkansas Bridge over the Mississippi River to Arkansas. TheInterstate 55 in Arkansas then continues to West Memphis and St. Louis.
History
Before the construction of I-55, US 61 was the main north-south route in this corner of the state. Traffic originally used the Harahan Bridge over the Mississippi River, which from 1917 had a bridge deck shared between trains and road traffic. In 1949, the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge opened as a road bridge adjacent to the railroad bridge. With this, there was the first bridge over the Mississippi River at Memphis that was only intended for road traffic.
With the creation of the Interstate Highway system in 1956, it was decided that I-55 would form a north-south route along the Mississippi River, switching from the east bank to the west bank at Memphis. It was decided to use the existing Memphis & Arkansas Bridge, which, however, does not meet Interstate Highway design requirements. The only thing that was changed in the 1960s was a barrier between the two driving directions.
The section between the Mississippi border and I-240 opened in about 1962, and the final section between I-240 and the Mississippi River bridge followed in 1966. The situation of I-55 in Memphis was considered one of the most substandard parts of the Interstate Highway system. Not only is the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge narrow, all through traffic also had to turn off on I-55 via a tight cloverleaf cloverleaf with US 61/79. This meant that traffic from New Orleans to St. Louis had to go through a simple clover loop in a TOTSO situation. In 2011, the clover loop was widened to 2 lanes. From mid-2022, the cloverleaf will be reconstructed into a bypass for through traffic. The bridge of I-55 over the Mississippi River was planned to be closed for 9 months, but this was canceled in 2019.
The southern part of I-55 in Memphis is better developed. The 10-mile section between the Mississippi border and I-240 was widened from 2×2 to 2×4 lanes in the early 2000s. The left lane was converted into an HOV lane around 2010.
Opening history
Exit are sometimes also mileposts.
| From | Unpleasant | Length | Opening |
| exit 12 | exit 13 | 2 km | 17-12-1949 |
| exit 0 | exit 6 | 10 km | 00-00-1962? |
| exit 8 | Exit 10 | 3 km | 00-10-1966 |
Traffic intensities
82,000 vehicles drive daily on the Mississippi border, which remains stable until the interchange with I-240 in southern Memphis. The intensities then drop to 58,000 vehicles in western Memphis and 62,000 vehicles on the Mississippi River bridge to Arkansas.
Lane Configuration
| From | Unpleasant | Lanes | Comments |
| exit 0 | exit 6 | 2×4 | Memphis |
| exit 6 | exit 13 | 2×3 | Memphis |
| exit 13 | Exit 14 | 2×2 | bridge over Mississippi |
