The Silliman Evans Sr. Memorial Bridges , most commonly referred to as the Silliman Evans Bridge , are a set of steel plate girder bridges which carry Interstate 24 across the Cumberland River in downtown Nashville, Tennessee . Until 2000, the bridges also carried Interstate 65 . The bridges consist of two separate spans, which diverge into four separate spans at their southern end.
181-489: The Silliman Evans Bridge borders downtown Nashville directly to the southeast and is part of the loop of interstate highways that completely encircle downtown Nashville, known locally as the Downtown Loop. The southern portion of the bridges consists of four separate two-lane ramps that are part of an interchange between I-24 and I-40 . One of these spans, the ramp carrying I-40 eastbound traffic to I-24 westbound, crosses over
362-455: A "Sufficiency" level global city as of 2020. Memphis is a center for media and entertainment, notably a historic music scene . With blues clubs on Beale Street originating the unique Memphis blues sound, the city has been nicknamed the "Home of the Blues". Its music has continued to be shaped by a multicultural mix of influences: country , rock and roll , soul , and hip-hop . The city
543-595: A "blueprint" for future incidents of police brutality nationwide. The incident also resulted in the disbanding of the city's "SCORPION" unit, which had been mandated with directly combating the most violent crimes in the city. All the officers charged with involvement in Nichols's death were members of the unit. According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 324.0 square miles (839.2 km ), of which 315.1 square miles (816.0 km )
724-607: A 1945 plan which recommended that a number of expressways be constructed in Knoxville to relieve congestion on surface streets. Planners intended these highways to be integrated into the proposed nationwide highway network that became the Interstate Highway System , which was expected to be authorized by Congress. The highway's location and design was finalized in a 1948 plan, and construction began on October 1, 1951. The first segment, between Unaka Street and Tulip Avenue,
905-520: A TDOT commissioner who served from 1987 until his death in 1992. The "Samuel T. Rayburn Memorial Bridge" over the Clinch River is named for a Texas congressman who was the longest serving Speaker of the US House of Representatives . The Holston River bridge is named for both Ralph K. Adcock and Bid Anderson , two state representatives from the area. The "Frances Burnett Swann Memorial Bridge" across
1086-537: A connector road to US 41 /70S (Murfreesboro Road) are accessible from the westbound lanes of I-40 at this interchange. Entering the Donelson neighborhood, I-40 intersects SR 155 (Briley Parkway) near Nashville International Airport . Beginning here, the left lanes are HOV lanes during rush hour. A partial exit accesses an airport connector road; immediately beyond is a second airport access road at SR 255 (Donelson Pike). Shifting northeast, I-40 crosses
1267-618: A descent from the Cumberland Plateau to the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians , also known as the Tennessee Valley or Great Valley of East Tennessee. On the descent, the eastbound speed limit drops to 60 mph (97 km/h). The highway hugs the slopes of the plateau's Walden Ridge escarpment for several miles, containing what the geologist Harry Moore called "dramatic views" of the Tennessee Valley, before reaching
1448-427: A few miles later. I-40 then widens to eight lanes, and has a four-level interchange with SR 155 (Briley Parkway, White Bridge Road) which includes the western terminus of a northern controlled-access beltway around Nashville. South of Tennessee State University is the western terminus of I-440 , the southern loop around central Nashville, where I-40 goes down to six lanes. The highway briefly passes through
1629-526: A group of older women called "little old ladies in tennis shoes" by media outlets began a campaign to halt construction. The organizers collected over 10,000 signatures, and founded Citizens to Preserve Overton Park in 1957. The movement was also backed by environmentalists , who feared that the Interstate's construction would upset the park's ecological balance; the wooded area had become an important stopover for migratory birds . The organization filed
1810-777: A lawsuit in the US District Court for the Western District of Tennessee in December 1969 after the Secretary of Transportation John A. Volpe authorized the state to solicit bids the previous month. The suit was dismissed on February 26, 1970, by Judge Bailey Brown , which was subsequently upheld by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals on September 29, 1970. The case was then appealed to the US Supreme Court , which reversed
1991-526: A monument at the Smith County Rest Area that lists the names of each TDOT worker killed in the line of duty since 1948 was dedicated. Several major bridges on I-40 also have honorary names. The "Hernando de Soto Bridge" is named for the 16th century Spanish explorer and conquistador who was the first European to cross the Mississippi River. The "Jimmy Mann Evans Memorial Bridge" is named for
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#17330938916282172-528: A number of streams and swamps in a long straightaway. I-40 turns east after the refuge and passes southeast of Brownsville , where it intersects SR 76 , SR 19 , and US 70. The highway then enters Madison County . Crossing a mix of level farmland and swamplands, I-40 enters Jackson beyond this point and crosses the South Fork of the Forked Deer River . Passing through northern Jackson,
2353-457: A number of surface streets and crosses the Wolf River for a second time about five miles (8.0 km) later. It then meets SR 14 again and turns southeast. A few miles later, I-40 reaches a complex four-level stack interchange with US 64 / 70 / 79 (Summer Avenue) and the eastern ends of I-240 and Sam Cooper Boulevard ; a pair of overpasses carries its traffic northeast. Entering
2534-404: A predominantly-residential area, passing Zoo Knoxville , and reaches an interchange with US 11W (Rutledge Pike). The Interstate then reaches the eastern terminus of I-640, shifting eastward and beginning a brief, unsigned concurrency with US 25W and SR 9 . These routes split off at an interchange with US 11E /70 (Asheville Highway). Leaving Knoxville, the Interstate crosses
2715-402: A region which was instrumental in the development of American popular music . In Memphis, the highway is also nationally significant due to a 1971 U.S. Supreme Court case which established the modern process of judicial review of infrastructure projects. Community opposition to the highway's proposed routing through Overton Park led to a nearly-25-year activist campaign which culminated in
2896-461: A ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by governor Frank G. Clement , Nashville mayor Beverly Briley , and Evans' widow. The approximately 3.2 miles (5.1 km) segment of I-24 between the bridge and the split with I-65 (then I-265) was also fully opened and dedicated in that ceremony. For many years, the segment of I-24 and I-65 containing the Silliman Evans bridge was the only complete portion of
3077-569: A ridge, the Interstates have a long straightaway and pass through the Knoxville suburb of Farragut . The road widens to eight lanes at SR 131 (Lovell Road) and intersects the Pellissippi Parkway (SR 162 northbound, I-140 eastbound), which connects to Oak Ridge and Maryville respectively. Proceeding through West Knoxville , the two routes intersect local roads before reaching a connector to US 11 / 70 ( Kingston Pike ) near
3258-495: A sedan on the northbound span crashed through the bridge's guardrails, exited the roadway, and crashed into the ground about 100 feet (30 m) below, killing eight occupants and injuring one. The accident was investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which named a number of unsafe design features of the bridge as contributors to the crash, and concluded that the state had been aware of
3439-644: A short distance with an eastbound truck-climbing lane. Along this ascent is an interchange with SR 96 , which connects to the Nashville suburbs of Fairview and Franklin . The Interstate enters Cheatham County a few miles later, and gradually descends into the Nashville Basin . It then passes the towns of Kingston Springs and Pegram , and crosses the Harpeth River twice in quick succession. Around milepost 191, I-40 enters Davidson County and crosses
3620-401: A southern bypass route around the central city. It then intersects SR 14 (Jackson Avenue). Proceeding north, the highway crosses the Wolf River and reaches the eastern terminus of SR 300 , a controlled-access connector to US 51. The Interstate then shifts due east, bypassing central Memphis to the north. Passing near the neighborhoods of Frayser and Raleigh , I-40 intersects
3801-587: A steep ascent with an eastbound truck-climbing lane. Beyond this point is an interchange with SR 53 in Gordonsville and near Carthage . Between mileposts 263 and 266, the highway crosses the meandering Caney Fork River five times before entering Putnam County . I-40 then again intersects SR 96 in Buffalo Valley , where it shifts southeast and begins climbing out of the Nashville Basin onto
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#17330938916283982-517: A steep, approximately five-mile (8.0 km) ascent onto the Cumberland Plateau , reaching an elevation of nearly 2,000 feet (610 m) at the top. The speed limit along this section reduces to 65 mph (105 km/h) – 55 mph (89 km/h) for trucks on the westbound descent. The Interstate then continues through a wooded area before reaching Monterey and turning southeast. Here it has two interchanges with US 70N,
4163-468: A straight alignment, bypassing most cities and communities. An interchange with SR 59 is at exit 35, which provides access to Covington and Somerville . The highway enters Haywood County near the site of Ford Motor Company 's Blue Oval City manufacturing facility. Beyond this point, it turns north and enters Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge ; the highway crosses the Hatchie River and
4344-531: A straightaway, the Interstate crosses the Wolf River for a third (and final) time; over the next several miles, it passes through the suburban neighborhoods of East Memphis and Cordova and the incorporated suburb of Bartlett in eastern Shelby County . This stretch has eight lanes; the left lanes serve as high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes during rush hour , and it has several interchanges with local thoroughfares. The highway then intersects US 64 and narrows to four lanes. After passing through Lakeland ,
4525-661: A yellow fever outbreak, 20,000 residents fled the city. The ensuing panic left the poverty-stricken, the working classes, and the African-American community at the most risk from the epidemic. Those who remained relied on volunteers from religious and physician organizations to tend to the sick. By the end of the year, more than 5,000 were confirmed dead in Memphis. The New Orleans health board listed "not less than 4,600" dead. The Mississippi Valley recorded 120,000 cases of yellow fever, with 20,000 deaths. The $ 15 million in losses caused by
4706-728: Is "from the eastern boundary of Davidson County to the Mississippi River in Shelby County ", a distance of about 222 miles (357 km). It commemorates the roles played by Memphis, Nashville, and the areas in between in the development of American popular music . Memphis is known as "the Home of the Blues and the Birthplace of Rock and Roll ", and Nashville is known as "Music City" for its influence on country music . Several cities and towns between
4887-530: Is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee . It is the county seat of Shelby County , in the southwesternmost part of the state, and is situated along the Mississippi River . With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census , Memphis is the second-most populous city in Tennessee after Nashville . Memphis is the fifth-most populous city in the Southeast , the nation's 28th-most populous overall, as well as
5068-664: Is home to a major professional sports team , the Grizzlies of the NBA . Other attractions include Graceland , the Memphis Pyramid , Sun Studio , the Blues Hall of Fame and Stax Museum of American Soul Music . Memphis-style barbecue has achieved international prominence, and the city hosts the annual World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest , which attracts more than 100,000 visitors each year. Higher-level educational institutions include
5249-495: Is land and 9.0 square miles (23.2 km ), or 2.76%, is water. Downtown Memphis rises from a bluff along the Mississippi River . The city and metro area spread out through suburbanization, and encompass southwest Tennessee, northern Mississippi , and eastern Arkansas . Several large parks were founded in the city in the early 20th century, notably Overton Park in Midtown and the 4,500-acre (18 km ) Shelby Farms . The city
5430-560: Is maintained by the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT). The busiest stretch of highway in Tennessee is on the segment concurrent with I-75 in Knoxville between a connector to US 11 / 70 and Papermill Road, which had an average daily traffic volume of 218,583 vehicles in 2022. The lowest daily traffic volume that year was 26,985 vehicles at the North Carolina state line. The busiest weigh station in
5611-424: Is one of Tennessee's busiest non-Interstate exits. Gradually turning northeast, the highway enters Jefferson County . After a gradual ascent of about five miles (8.0 km), the highway intersects US 25W/70 near Dandridge , where SR 66 also splits off. It then enters northern Dandridge, where it meets SR 92 . I-40 intersects the southern terminus of I-81 , which runs into northeast Tennessee to
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5792-663: The Cumberland and Tennessee river watersheds meet, at mile marker 308. The Interstate reaches Crossville , where it crosses the Obed River , about 10 miles (16 km) later. This city has three interchanges, including one with US 127 to Jamestown . East of Crossville, the Crab Orchard Mountains (the southern range of the Cumberland Mountains ) come into view; the road descends several hundred feet, and
5973-757: The Holston River . Continuing east as a six-lane highway, I-40 travels through Strawberry Plains before entering Sevier County several miles later. Near Kodak is Exit 407 with SR 66 and the northern terminus of the Great Smoky Mountains Parkway , where the Interstate begins an unsigned concurrency with the former. This interchange is the primary access to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and tourist attractions in Sevierville , Pigeon Forge , and Gatlinburg , and
6154-473: The Jefferson Street community in western Nashville, a predominantly Black neighborhood which contains three historically Black colleges and was home to a large African American middle class in the early-to-mid-20th century. Planners considered placing this section near Vanderbilt University , but settled on the current alignment by the mid-1950s. Before construction began, many residents believed that
6335-500: The Jefferson Street neighborhood before entering downtown Nashville near Fisk University , where it begins a brief concurrency with I-65 and turns southeast. As part of the Inner Loop encircling downtown Nashville, the two concurrent Interstates have interchanges in quick succession with US 70 (Charlotte Avenue), US 70S/ 431 (Broadway), Church Street, and Demonbreun Street. Next they shift east-northeast near Music Row and
6516-748: The Middle Fork of the Forked Deer River . It intersects SR 22 , a major north–south corridor in West Tennessee which accesses Lexington and Huntington, near the town of Parkers Crossroads . The Interstate then crosses the Big Sandy River before proceeding through the northern half of Natchez Trace State Park . Over the next few miles, the highway transitions several times between Henderson and Carroll counties before entering Decatur County . It reaches US 641 / SR 69 , another major north–south corridor connecting Camden and Decaturville , at
6697-539: The Mississippi River at the Arkansas border to the Blue Ridge Mountains at the North Carolina border. At 455.28 miles (732.70 km), the Tennessee segment of I-40 is the longest of the eight states through which it passes and the state's longest Interstate Highway. I-40 passes through Tennessee's three largest cities— Memphis , Nashville , and Knoxville —and serves the Great Smoky Mountains National Park ,
6878-469: The Piney River . Several miles beyond this point is an interchange with SR 46 , the primary exit for Dickson, which also provides access to Centerville and Columbia . Near the town of Burns , I-40 reaches the western terminus of I-840 , the outer southern beltway around Nashville. The highway continues through woodlands and rugged terrain and, crossing into Williamson County , ascends steeply for
7059-519: The Southern United States , Memphis has a wide variety of landscapes and distinct neighborhoods . The first European explorer to visit the area of present-day Memphis was Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto in 1541. The high Chickasaw Bluffs protecting the location from the waters of the Mississippi was contested by European settlers as Memphis developed. By 1819, when modern Memphis
7240-590: The Stones River near J. Percy Priest Dam . Entering the southern fringes of the Hermitage neighborhood, the highway meets Old Hickory Boulevard again at an interchange with SR 45 and once again shifts eastward into a straightaway. I-40 enters Wilson County and then has an interchange with SR 171 in the suburb of Mount Juliet . Entering another long straightaway, the highway intersects SR 109 after some distance, which provides access to Gallatin to
7421-585: The Tri-Cities of Bristol , Kingsport , and Johnson City . Here, I-40 reduces to four lanes and turns 90 degrees southeast. Beginning a moderate descent, the highway crosses the Douglas Lake reservoir of the French Broad River a few miles later and enters Cocke County after a gradual climb. Near Newport is an interchange with US 25W/70, near the northern terminus of US 411 . Traversing
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7602-525: The United States . The city of Memphis was founded less than five months after the U.S. takeover of the territory, on May 22, 1819 (incorporated December 19, 1826), by John Overton , James Winchester and Andrew Jackson . They named it after the ancient capital of Egypt on the Nile River . From the city's foundation onwards, African Americans formed large proportion of Memphis' population. Prior to
7783-524: The University of Memphis , Christian Brothers University and Rhodes College . Occupying a substantial bluff rising from the Mississippi River, the site of Memphis has been a natural location for human settlement by varying indigenous cultures over thousands of years. In the first millennium A.D. people of the Mississippian culture were prominent; the culture influenced a network of communities throughout
7964-550: The West Hills neighborhood. An interchange with SR 332 (Northshore Drive) and Papermill and Weisgarber Roads follows. The routes reach the western terminus of I-640 , a beltway which bypasses downtown to the north, two miles (3.2 km) later. Here I-75 splits off from I-40 onto a brief concurrency with I-640 to Lexington, Kentucky . The Interstate then enters downtown Knoxville with six through lanes and several short segments of auxiliary lanes between exits. Passing near
8145-432: The civil rights leader who was assassinated there in 1968 . The stretch in eastern Shelby County was named "Isaac Hayes Memorial Highway" in 2010 after a singer-songwriter who was one of the creative forces behind Stax Records in Memphis. The stretch between Nashville and Crossville was named "Senator Tommy Burks Memorial Highway" in 1999 after a state senator who was assassinated the previous year and commonly drove
8326-469: The "Wharf Avenue Bridge", work began in late April 1960, and the entire project cost approximately $ 7 million (equivalent to $ 52.6 million in 2023). The legislation naming the bridge was approved by the Tennessee General Assembly on March 16, 1961. In late December 1963, the eastern span opened, with east and westbound traffic routed together. On January 14, 1964, the western span opened in
8507-544: The 0.5-mile (800 m) Jimmy Mann Evans Memorial Bridge into Middle Tennessee . Crossing the Tennessee River into Humphreys County , I-40 exits the refuge after a few miles and traverses vast woodlands in the rugged hills of the Western Highland Rim . This section is characterized by several ascents and descents, with the route roughly following a crooked stream valley. About six miles (10 km) beyond
8688-613: The 16.5-mile (26.6 km) segment joining SR 56 near Silver Point and US 70N in Cookeville saw its first traffic. The segment from US 70S in Bellevue and US 70 in western Nashville opened on November 15, 1962. In Memphis, the segment between I-240/Sam Cooper Boulevard and US 64/70/79 – then part of I-240 – was dedicated on October 9, 1963, by Governor Frank G. Clement and opened to traffic 14 days later. That same month, contracts for
8869-453: The 1880s Memphis led the nation in sanitary reform and improvements. Perhaps the most significant effect of yellow fever on Memphis was in demographic changes. Nearly all of Memphis's upper and middle classes vanished, depriving the city of its general leadership and class structure that dictated everyday life, similar to that in other large Southern cities, such as New Orleans , Charleston, South Carolina , and Atlanta, Georgia . In Memphis,
9050-625: The 1960s, the city was at the center of the Civil Rights Movement , as its large African-American population had been affected by state segregation practices and disenfranchisement in the early 20th century. African-American residents drew from the civil rights movement to improve their lives. In 1968, the Memphis sanitation strike began for living wages and better working conditions; the workers were overwhelmingly African American. They marched to gain public awareness and support for their plight:
9231-523: The 20th century, with four lynchings between 1900 and the lynching of Thomas Williams in 1928. A Tennessee Powder Company built an explosives powder plant to make TNT and gunpowder on a 6,000-acre site in Millington in 1940. The plant was built to make smokeless gunpowder for the British Armed Forces during World War II . In May 1941, DuPont (1802–2017) took over the plant, changed the name to
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#17330938916289412-674: The 31-mile (50 km) segment opened between the Clinch River bridge in Kingston and Papermill Road in Knoxville. On October 31, 1962, the section connecting SR 113 near Dandridge and US 25W/70 in Newport opened. The first section of I-40 in Middle Tennessee to be completed was the 14.5-mile (23.3 km) stretch from SR 96 in Williamson County and US 70S in Bellevue, which opened on November 1, 1962. The following day,
9593-601: The Broadway of America auto trail linking California and New York in the late 1920s. The first segment included in Tennessee's I-40 was a 1.09-mile-long (1.75 km) controlled-access highway in Knoxville, the state's first, which was constructed by state and local governments. Known initially as the Magnolia Avenue Expressway and later renamed the Frank Regas Expressway, the highway originated from
9774-603: The Chickasaw Ordnance Works, and produced powder for the United States Armed Forces . There were 8,000 employees. The plant was dismantled after the war in 1946. From the 1910s to the 1950s, Memphis was a place of machine politics under the direction of E. H. "Boss" Crump . He gained a state law in 1911 to establish a small commission to manage the city. The city retained a form of commission government until 1967 and patronage flourished under Crump. Per
9955-518: The Decatur– Benton county line. About six miles (10 km) later, the Interstate descends about 300 feet (100 m) on a steep grade over one mile (1.6 km) into the Western Valley of the Tennessee River ; the westbound lanes have a truck- climbing lane . Entering Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge at the bottom of the grade, I-40 crosses Kentucky Lake , a Tennessee River reservoir, on
10136-733: The Eastern Highland Rim. The moderately-steep grade is about four miles (6.4 km) long. Near the top, the Interstate reaches an elevation of 1,000 feet (300 m) for the first time in Tennessee, close to Silver Point . The highway then curves northeast and begins a concurrency with SR 56 , which connects to Smithville and McMinnville to the south. I-40 then gradually shifts eastward for several miles before reaching Baxter , where SR 56 splits off and heads north toward Gainesboro . The Interstate has five interchanges in Cookeville , including one with SR 111 (a major north–south connector to Chattanooga) and another with US 70N . It then crosses Falling Water River and begins
10317-430: The French Broad River was designated in 1963 for the wife of Alfred Swann , who served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War . Before the settlement of Tennessee by European Americans , a series of Native American trails existed in what is now the I-40 corridor. The Cumberland Trace (also known as Tollunteeskee's Trail) was a Cherokee trail which passed through the central Cumberland Plateau , and
10498-442: The Harpeth River for the third time a few miles later. Entering the urbanized parts of the Nashville metropolitan area , the Interstate widens to six lanes near Bellevue . The highway enters the outskirts of Nashville, the state capital and Tennessee's largest city, and intersects US 70S near a bend in the Cumberland River . It then reaches Old Hickory Boulevard ( SR 251 ) and intersects US 70 (Charlotte Avenue)
10679-411: The Interstate crosses the southern half of Mud Island before crossing the Wolf River Harbor and Mississippi Alluvial Plain into Downtown Memphis , where the bridge ends next to the Memphis Pyramid . The highway then intersects US 51 (Danny Thomas Boulevard) and, just beyond this point, abruptly turns 90 degrees north near Midtown at an interchange with the western terminus of I-240 ,
10860-430: The Interstate reaches a cloverleaf interchange with the eastern ends of I-269 and SR 385 near the suburb of Arlington . Leaving the Memphis area, I-40 enters Fayette County east of Arlington; about five miles (8 km) later, it crosses the Loosahatchie River and adjacent wetlands. Over the next 30 miles (50 km), the Interstate crosses a level expanse of farmland and some woodlands and swamplands in
11041-598: The Interstate widens to six lanes and has six urban interchanges. In quick succession, the highway intersects US 412 , which connects to Alamo and Dyersburg ; the US 45 Bypass (US 45 Byp.); and US 45 (North Highland Avenue), which also provides access to Humboldt and Milan . The Interstate passes through a residential area and reaches US 70, which connects to Huntingdon . I-40 then shrinks back to four lanes. The highway continues east-northeast through farmland and woodlands with low, rolling hills. After entering Henderson County , I-40 crosses
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#173309389162811222-416: The Interstate would lead to the economic decline of their neighborhood and divide it from the rest of the city. Some also believed that the routing was an act of racial discrimination , and criticized the state for a lack of transparency about its plans. In October 1967, several residents of Jefferson Street formed the I-40 Steering Committee and filed a lawsuit against the state in the US District Court for
11403-491: The Memphis area opened on September 15, 1997, on the 7.5-mile (12.1 km) section between I-240 and US 64 in Bartlett with the completion of a project widening the section from four to eight lanes. The cancellation of the section of I-40 through Overton Park rendered both interchanges with I-240 inadequate to handle the unplanned traffic patterns, necessitating their reconstruction; both interchanges also contained ramps with hazardously sharp curves. The eastern interchange
11584-408: The Middle District of Tennessee in the hope forcing a reroute of the Interstate. Judge Frank Gray Jr. ruled against the committee on November 2, saying that there was no feasible alternate route. Gray conceded, however, that the methods used by the state to notify residents about the project were unsatisfactory and the route would have an adverse effect on their community. The organization appealed
11765-431: The Midtown interchange with I-240 (then I-255), opened on July 14 of that year. Work on the final segment between Memphis and Knoxville, approximately 5.5 miles (8.9 km) from the interchange with I-65 to the western split with I-24 southeast of downtown Nashville (including the concurrency with I-65), began in May 1969 and opened on March 3, 1972. This completed all of I-40 from Memphis to SR 299, near Rockwood, and
11946-439: The Mississippi River Valley and its tributaries. The hierarchical societies built complexes with large earthwork ceremonial and burial mounds as expressions of their sophisticated culture. The Chickasaw people, believed to be their descendants, later inhabited this site and a large territory in the Southeast. French explorers led by René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle , and Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto encountered
12127-413: The Mississippi River at the present-day location of Memphis. Spain and the United States vied for control of this site, which was a favorite of the Chickasaws." In 1795 the Spanish Governor-General of Louisiana , Francisco Luis Héctor de Carondelet , sent his lieutenant governor, Manuel Gayoso de Lemos , to negotiate and secure consent from the local Chickasaw so that a Spanish fort could be erected on
12308-410: The Mississippi River until an extension of I-75 in Florida was authorized by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1968 . The first design contract for I-40 in Tennessee was awarded on March 4, 1956, for a short section in Davidson County . Within a year, design contracts had been awarded for sections in Davidson, Knox , Roane , Haywood , Madison , Jefferson , and Cocke counties. By 1958, design work
12489-463: The Pigeon River Gorge in Cocke County into North Carolina was initially believed by some engineers to be impossible to build and was among the nation's most difficult and laborious highway projects, requiring thousands of tons of earth and rock to be moved. It was one of the most expensive highway construction projects per mile, at a cost of $ 19 million (equivalent to $ 127 million in 2023 ). Work began in 1961; grading and bridge construction
12670-424: The Pigeon River or the French Broad River to the north. Surveys for both routes were authorized in 1945, and the first survey for the former was made in 1948. After additional studies, the North Carolina Highway Commission recommended the Pigeon River gorge route in 1955; this was approved by the Bureau of Public Roads (predecessor to the Federal Highway Administration ) on April 12, 1956. The Tennessee leg of I-40
12851-547: The Silliman Evans Bridge and onto the western loop around downtown Nashville, forming a new concurrency with I-40 and replacing a segment of freeway designated as I-265. This was done in an effort to reduce congestion on the bridge and along the east side of Nashville. Interstate 40 in Tennessee Interstate 40 ( I-40 ) is part of the Interstate Highway System that runs 2,556.61 miles (4,114.46 km) from Barstow, California , to Wilmington, North Carolina . The highway crosses Tennessee from west to east, from
13032-606: The Sylvers , Jay Reatard , Zach Myers , and Aretha Franklin . On December 23, 1988, a tanker truck hauling liquefied propane crashed at the I-40/I-240 interchange in Midtown and exploded , starting multiple vehicle and structural fires. Nine people were killed and ten were injured. It was one of Tennessee's deadliest motor vehicle accidents and eventually led to the reconstruction of the interchange where it occurred. On June 2, 2021,
13213-614: The abolition of slavery in the United States , most Black people in Memphis were enslaved, being used as forced labor by white enslavers along the river or on outlying cotton plantations in the Mississippi Delta . The city's demographics changed dramatically in the 1850s and 1860s, due to waves of immigration and domestic migration. Due to increased immigration since the 1840s and the Great Famine , Irish Americans made up 9.9% of
13394-401: The altercations, which were described as "heinous" and showed "a total lack of regard for human life", according to Memphis police chief Cerelyn "CJ" Davis. The officers were fired and charged with second-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, and other crimes. The relatively rapid dismissal and prosecution of the offending officers were favorably perceived by Nichols's family, and Davis called it
13575-679: The area annexed was slightly smaller than first proposed. In 1893 the city was rechartered with home rule , which restored its ability to enact taxes. The state legislature established a cap rate. Although the commission government was retained and enlarged to five commissioners, Democratic politicians regained control from the business elite. The commission form of government was believed effective in getting things done, but because all positions were elected at-large , requiring them to gain majority votes, this practice reduced representation by candidates representing significant minority political interests. In terms of its economy, Memphis developed as
13756-535: The base of the plateau about 800 feet (240 m) below. I-40 then shifts eastward between Harriman and Rockwood , interchanging with US 27 . The highway then crosses a series of parallel ridges and valleys characteristic of the region's topography. It intersects SR 29 and crosses the Clinch River , with the Kingston Fossil Plant and its 1,000-foot (300 m) twin smokestacks dominating
13937-535: The black settlement was left in ruins. Two whites were killed in the riot. Many blacks permanently fled Memphis afterward, especially as the Freedmen's Bureau continued to have difficulty in protecting them. Their population fell to about 15,000 by 1870, 37.4% of the total population of 40,226. Historian Barrington Walker suggests that the Irish rioted against blacks because of their relatively recent arrival as immigrants and
14118-721: The bluff; Fort San Fernando De Las Barrancas was the result. Holmes notes that consent was reached despite opposition from "disappointed Americans and a pro-American faction of the Chickasaws" when the "pro-Spanish faction signed the Chickasaw Bluffs Cession and Spain provided the Chickasaws with a trading post". Fort San Fernando de las Barrancas remained a focal point of Spanish activity until, as Holmes summarizes: [T]he Treaty of San Lorenzo or Pinckney's Treaty of 1795 [implemented in March 1797], [had as its result that] all of
14299-456: The bottom of the Mississippi River via a pipeline . Contracts for this work were let in May and July 1974. Dredging and fill work was complete by the end of 1977, and the section was opened to traffic by Governor Lamar Alexander on March 28, 1980. I-40 was originally planned to pass through Overton Park in Memphis, a 342-acre (138 ha) public park. This location was announced in 1955, and
14480-596: The bridge over the Clinch River ;– constructed at a cost of $ 2.4 million (equivalent to $ 18.7 million in 2023 ) – was dedicated and opened to traffic by Governor Buford Ellington . The 21.5-mile (34.6 km) section linking US 70 east of Brownsville and US 70 in Jackson, known at the time as the Jackson Bypass, was opened to traffic on December 1, 1961. The following day,
14661-541: The bridge, I-24 and I-40 begin a brief concurrency ; southwest of the bridge, I-40 continues as part of the Downtown Loop. The bridges also cross US 70 (Hermitage Avenue) and a railroad at its south end, and two surface streets at its northern end. The Silliman Evans Bridge was the first major link in the Downtown Loop around Nashville to be constructed. It was named for an owner and publisher of The Nashville Tennessean , now The Tennessean , who held that position from 1937 until his death in 1955. Originally referred to as
14842-690: The careful, diplomatic work by Spanish officials in Louisiana and West Florida , which has succeeded for a decade in controlling the Indians [e.g., the Choctaws ], was undone. The United States gained the right to navigate the Mississippi River and won control over the Yazoo Strip north of the thirty-first parallel. The Spanish dismantled the fort, shipping its lumber and iron to their locations in Arkansas. In 1796,
15023-469: The case. This resulted in the state abandoning the highway's original alignment and relocating it onto what was originally a section of I-240. I-40 runs for 455.28 miles (732.70 km) through Tennessee , making it the second-longest stretch of Interstate Highway within a single state east of the Mississippi River . It is the only Interstate Highway to pass through all three of the state's Grand Divisions and all nine physiographic regions . The highway
15204-526: The cities, including Jackson , Brownsville , Nutbush , and Waverly , were birthplaces (or homes) of singers and songwriters. Signs with the words "Music Highway" and musical notes are along I-40 in both directions throughout this section, and rest areas are named for associated musicians or bands. Several sections of I-40 also bear honorary names in Tennessee. In Memphis, the freeway was designated as "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway" in 1971 after
15385-459: The city as the war went on. The war years contributed to additional dramatic changes in the city population. The Union Army's presence attracted many fugitive slaves who had escaped from surrounding rural plantations. So many sought protection behind Union lines that the Army set up contraband camps to accommodate them. Memphis's black population increased from 3,000 in 1860, when the total population
15566-734: The city has a majority African-American population. Memphis is well known for its cultural contributions to the identity of the American South . Many renowned musicians grew up in and around Memphis and moved to Chicago and other areas from the Mississippi Delta , carrying their music with them to influence other cities and listeners over radio airwaves. Former and current Memphis residents include musicians Elvis Presley , Jerry Lee Lewis , Muddy Waters , Carl Perkins , Johnny Cash , Robert Johnson , W. C. Handy , Bobby Whitlock , B.B. King , Howlin' Wolf , Isaac Hayes , Booker T. Jones , Eric Gales , Al Green , Alex Chilton , Three 6 Mafia ,
15747-478: The city were the lower classes, such as German and Irish immigrant workers and African Americans. None had the means to flee the city, as did the middle and upper-class whites of Memphis, and thus they were subjected to a city of death. Immediately following the Board of Health's declaration, a Citizen's Relief Committee was formed by Charles G. Fisher. It organized the city into refugee camps. The committee's main priority
15928-493: The city. A massive panic ensued. The same trains and steamboats that had brought thousands into Memphis, in five days carried away more than 25,000 refugees, more than half of the city's population. On August 23, the Board of Health finally declared a yellow fever epidemic in Memphis, and the city collapsed, hemorrhaging its population. In July of that year, the city had a population of 47,000; by September, 19,000 remained, and 17,000 of them had yellow fever. The only people left in
16109-458: The civil rights era, Memphis has become one of the nation's leading commercial centers in transportation and logistics . The largest employer is FedEx , which maintains its global air hub at Memphis International Airport . In 2021, Memphis was the world's second-busiest cargo airport. The International Port of Memphis also hosts the fifth-busiest inland water port in the U.S. The Globalization and World Cities Research Network considers Memphis
16290-476: The completion of a project which widened the eight-mile (13 km) section between west of SR 45 (Old Hickory Boulevard) in eastern Nashville and east of SR 171 in Mount Juliet from four to eight lanes. They were Tennessee's second set of HOV lanes. The project, which began in early 1995, was the state's first to use split Jersey barriers in the median every few miles to allow police enforcement from
16471-543: The concurrent part of I-75 on this segment was rerouted around the western leg of I-640 (completed in December 1980) and the short segment of I-75 north of this segment became I-275. These projects were part of a $ 250 million (equivalent to $ 668 million in 2023 ) multi-phase improvement project for area roads which was accelerated in preparation for the 1982 World's Fair . They were followed by widening I-40 to six lanes between Broadway and US 11W from July 1990 to October 1991. Memphis, Tennessee Memphis
16652-467: The country is on I-40/I-75 in Farragut , a suburb of Knoxville, which serves more than 2.4 million trucks annually. I-40 enters Tennessee from Arkansas in a direct east–west alignment via the six-lane Hernando de Soto Bridge , a tied-arch bridge which spans the Mississippi River and has a total length of about 1.8 miles (2.9 km). Entering the city of Memphis (Tennessee's second-largest city),
16833-542: The country to come home. Though yellow fever cases were recorded in the pages of Elmwood Cemetery's burial record as late as February 29, 1874, the epidemic seemed quieted. The Board of Health declared the epidemic at an end after it had caused over 20,000 deaths and financial losses of nearly $ 200 million. On November 27, a general citizen's meeting was called at the Greenlaw Opera House to offer thanks to those who had stayed behind to serve, of whom many had died. Over
17014-601: The creation of the Southwest Territory , the territorial legislature on July 10, 1795, authorized a wagon trail to be constructed between Knoxville and Nashville. The trail, officially named the Cumberland Turnpike, became popularly known as the Walton Road for one of its surveyors: William Walton, an American Revolutionary War veteran. Built from 1799 to 1801 at a cost of $ 1,000 (equivalent to $ 22,312 in 2023 ), it
17195-591: The danger of their work, and the struggles to support families with their low pay. Their drive for better pay had been met with resistance by the city government. Martin Luther King Jr. of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference , known for his leadership in the non-violent movement, came to lend his support to the workers' cause. King stayed at the Lorraine Motel in the city, and was assassinated by James Earl Ray on April 4, 1968,
17376-514: The day after giving his I've Been to the Mountaintop speech at the Mason Temple . After learning of King's murder, many African Americans in the city rioted, looting and destroying businesses and other facilities, some by arson. The governor ordered Tennessee National Guardsmen into the city within hours, where small, roving bands of rioters continued to be active. Fearing the violence, more of
17557-603: The decision to the Sixth Circuit, which unanimously upheld the lower court's decision on December 18; and to the Supreme Court, which refused to hear the case on January 29, 1968. The construction of I-40 through Jefferson Street resulted in many Black residents being displaced to the Bordeaux area of North Nashville, and led to the predicted economic downturn in the neighborhood. The first high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes in
17738-596: The descent down Walden Ridge, was the last section of I-40 completed between Memphis and Knoxville, and was repeatedly delayed by geological problems. The westbound lanes opened to two-way traffic on November 18, 1972, and the complete section opened on August 19, 1974. Work started on this section in early 1966, and was originally expected to be completed by late 1968. The final segment of the planned route of I-40 in Tennessee, 21.5 miles (34.6 km) connecting US 11E/25W/70 east of Knoxville to US 25W/70 in Dandridge,
17919-551: The disease carried by river passengers traveling by ships along the waterways. During the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1878, more than 5,000 people were listed in the official register of deaths between July 26 and November 27. The vast majority died of yellow fever, making the epidemic in the city of 40,000 one of the most traumatic and severe in urban U.S. history. Within four days of the Memphis Board of Health's declaration of
18100-478: The eastbound lanes also have access to US 441 southbound (Henley Street). The highway crosses a long viaduct over a rail yard before reaching an interchange with SR 158 (James White Parkway) westbound, a controlled-access spur which accesses downtown Knoxville and the University of Tennessee to the south. I-40 then curves north and northeast before an interchange with a connector to US 441. It enters
18281-744: The eastern terminus of the Foothills Parkway before crossing the river a final time and curving sharply east. I-40 then enters the Cherokee National Forest and snakes through the Pigeon River gorge between the Great Smoky Mountains on the south and the Bald Mountains on the north, following the river's north bank. Due to hazardous curves, the speed limit is reduced to 55 mph (89 km/h) and trucks are prohibited from using
18462-423: The election of all the at-large positions. Memphis did not become a home rule city until 1963, although the state legislature had amended the constitution in 1953 to provide home rule for cities and counties. Before that, the city had to get state bills approved in order to change its charter and other policies and programs. Since 1963, it can change the charter by popular approval of the electorate. During
18643-585: The epidemic bankrupted Memphis, and as a result, its charter was revoked by the state legislature. By 1870, Memphis's population of 40,000 was almost double that of Nashville and Atlanta, and it was the second-largest city in the South after New Orleans. Its population continued to grow after 1870, even when the Panic of 1873 hit the US hard, particularly in the South. The Panic of 1873 resulted in expanding Memphis's underclasses amid
18824-524: The epidemic reported seeing as many as 100 to 150 patients daily. The Episcopal Community of St. Mary at St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral played an important role during the epidemic in caring for the lower classes. Already supporting a girls' school and church orphanage, the Sisters of St. Mary also sought to provide care for the Canfield Asylum, a home for black children. Each day, they alternated caring for
19005-485: The expectation that I-40 would continue east of the interchange. The nearby cloverleaf interchange with SR 14 (Jackson Avenue) was reduced to a partial cloverleaf interchange , and several additional auxiliary lanes and slip ramps were constructed. The northern merge point between I-40 and I-240 was moved north of the SR ;14 interchange. In November 1977, TDOT installed a system to detect tailgating vehicles in
19186-476: The first of which has a concurrency with SR 84 . After a few miles, the highway reaches an elevation of 2,000 feet (610 m) just before crossing into Cumberland County and East Tennessee . After climbing the Cumberland Plateau, I-40 remains moderately flat and straight as it continues east through a mix of wooded areas and farmland. The highway crosses the Tennessee Valley Divide , where
19367-512: The first project. This project also widened the ramp connecting I-240 eastbound and I-40 eastbound to three lanes, widened both approaches to the interchange on I-40, which required a new 14-lane bridge over the Wolf River, widened the approach on I-240 south of the interchange, added through lanes to Sam Cooper Boulevard, and reconfigured the SR ;204 (Covington Pike) interchange. It cost $ 109.3 million (equivalent to $ 136 million in 2023 ),
19548-676: The franchise until after the passage of civil rights legislation in the mid-1960s.) Historian L. B. Wrenn suggests the heightened political hostility of the Democratic contest and related social tensions contributed to a white mob lynching three black grocers in Memphis in 1892 . Journalist Ida B. Wells of Memphis investigated the lynchings, as one of the men killed was a friend of hers. She demonstrated that these and other lynchings were more often due to economic and social competition than any criminal offenses by black men. Her findings were considered so controversial and aroused so much anger that she
19729-655: The freedmen. Unlike the disturbances in some other cities, ex-Confederate veterans were generally not part of the attacks against blacks in Memphis. As a result of the riots in Memphis, and a similar one in New Orleans, Louisiana in September, Congress passed the Reconstruction Act and the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution . In the 1870s, a series of yellow fever epidemics devastated Memphis, with
19910-679: The highway which became I-40 was included in the National Interregional Highway Committee's 1944 report, "Interregional Highways", and a 1947 plan produced by the Public Roads Administration of the Federal Works Agency . The only area which presented a challenge to planners was the Blue Ridge Mountains, with residents of Western North Carolina divided over whether the Interstate should follow
20091-589: The historic Chickasaw in this area in the 16th century. J. D. L. Holmes, writing in Hudson's Four Centuries of Southern Indians (2007), notes that this site was a third strategic point in the late 18th century through which European powers could control United States encroachment beyond the Appalachians and their interference with Indian matters—after Fort Nogales (present-day Vicksburg ) and Fort Confederación (present-day Epes, Alabama ): "Chickasaw Bluffs, located on
20272-752: The interchange to full access control, modified the White Bridge Road interchange, and widened a short stretch of I-40 west of the interchange. A project from January 2004 to January 2007 widened the three-mile (4.8 km) section connecting I-24/440 to SR 255 from six to eight through lanes, added auxiliary lanes between interchanges, and reconstructed the interchange with SR 155 (Briley Parkway) for controlled access. Work to widen six miles (9.7 km) of I-40 from four to eight lanes from east of SR 171 to east of SR 109 in Lebanon began in July 2012 and
20453-471: The interstates encircling downtown Nashville. The portion of the loop northwest of downtown, where I-65 would eventually be rerouted, was not completed until March 15, 1971, and I-40 directly southwest of the Silliman Evans Bridge was not completed until March 3, 1972. One of the worst traffic accidents in the state's history occurred on the Silliman Evans Bridge on the morning of July 27, 1973, when
20634-536: The largest city bordering the Mississippi River and third largest metropolitan statistical area behind Greater St. Louis and the Twin Cities on the Mississippi River. The Memphis metropolitan area includes West Tennessee and the greater Mid-South region , which includes portions of neighboring Arkansas , Mississippi and the Missouri Bootheel . One of the more historic and culturally significant cities of
20815-500: The largest world markets for cotton and hardwood . Home to Tennessee's largest African-American population, Memphis played a prominent role in the American Civil Rights Movement . Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968 after activities supporting a strike by the city's maintenance workers. The National Civil Rights Museum was established there and is a Smithsonian affiliate institution. Since
20996-559: The last sections between Memphis and Nashville were let. Clement opened and dedicated the 31-mile (50 km) stretch linking SR 59 near Braden and US 70 east of Brownsville on December 17, 1963. Four days later, the 15-mile (24 km) segment from SR 53 in Gordonsville to SR 56 near Silver Point opened. On June 2, 1964, the nine-mile (14 km) segment connecting SR 46 in Dickson and SR 96 in Williamson County
21177-412: The last sections of I-75 and I-81 in Tennessee were opened. The last section of I-40 in Tennessee to be completed linked Chelsea Avenue and US 64/70/79 in Memphis, and was originally part of I-240. Due to its location within a floodplain, an artificial fill of 23 million cubic yards (18 × 10 ^ m ) of sand and silt was required for the roadbed, most of which was dredged and pumped from
21358-595: The last stretch in Middle Tennessee. The last segment of the planned I-40 in West Tennessee to be completed was the Hernando de Soto Bridge in Memphis; construction began on May 2, 1967, and the bridge opened to traffic on August 2, 1973. The bridge, which cost $ 57 million (equivalent to $ 299 million in 2023 ), was dedicated by Tennessee Governor Winfield Dunn and Arkansas Governor Dale Bumpers on August 17, 1973. The nine-mile (14 km) segment from SR 299 to US 27 near Harriman and Rockwood, including
21539-477: The left lane. This stretch is also prone to rockslides , and has mesh nets along some of the cliff slopes. The route gradually curves southeast near Hartford and, after several miles, crosses the Appalachian Trail and enters North Carolina. "Music Highway" refers to the section of I-40 between Memphis and Nashville, which was designated as such by the Tennessee General Assembly in 1997. The designation
21720-505: The left shoulder. The short stretch between SR 155 (Briley Parkway/White Bridge Road) and the western terminus of I-440 was modified from November 2002 to July 2005; it was widened to eight through lanes, auxiliary lanes were added, access to local thoroughfares was improved and expanded, and two overpasses provided partial access control to the southern end of Briley Parkway. The second phase (from July 2009 to August 2011) constructed an overpass between I-40 and Briley Parkway, converting
21901-423: The link between Fesslers and Spence Lanes (including the eastern interchange with I-24) was declared complete on January 11, 1965. The adjacent link to the west, between the western interchange with I-24 and Fesslers Lane, was partially opened in late December 1963 with the nearby Silliman Evans Bridge ; it fully opened on April 19, 1965. Work began on the bridge over the Tennessee River on November 29, 1962, and
22082-636: The lower-court rulings in the landmark decision of Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe on March 2, 1971. The court found that Volpe had violated clauses of the Department of Transportation Act of 1966 and the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1968 , which prohibit the approval of federal funding for highway projects through public parks with feasible alternative routes. Tennessee continued exploring options to route I-40 through Overton Park for many years after this decision including tunneling under
22263-401: The main campus of the University of Tennessee and several residential neighborhoods, the Interstate intersects the northern terminus of US 129 (Alcoa Highway), a controlled-access highway accessing McGhee Tyson Airport and Great Smoky Mountains National Park . Next is an exit for SR 62 (Western Avenue), followed by a three-level interchange with the southern terminus of I-275 ;
22444-483: The middle-class began to leave the city for the suburbs. In 1970, the Census Bureau reported Memphis's population as 60.8% white and 38.9% black. Suburbanization was attracting wealthier residents to newer housing outside the city. After the riots and court-ordered busing in 1973 to achieve desegregation of public schools, "about 40,000 of the system's 71,000 white students abandon[ed] the system in four years." Today,
22625-399: The most expensive contract in state history at the time, and was completed on December 15, 2016. The interchange with the western terminus of I-240 near midtown Memphis was reconstructed between June 2003 and December 2006. This project converted the interchange into a directional T configuration, which required the demolition of several unused ramps and bridges which had been built in
22806-692: The most-visited national park in the United States. It crosses all of Tennessee's physiographic regions and Grand Divisions —the Mississippi embayment and Gulf Coastal Plain in West Tennessee , the Highland Rim and Nashville Basin in Middle Tennessee , and the Cumberland Plateau , Cumberland Mountains , Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians , and Blue Ridge Mountains in East Tennessee . Landscapes on
22987-476: The neighborhoods of The Gulch and SoBro, where I-65 turns south toward Huntsville, Alabama . Briefly independent for about one mile (1.6 km), I-40 crosses a viaduct and intersects US 31A / US 41A (4th Avenue, 2nd Avenue) before beginning a brief concurrency with I-24 . The concurrent Interstates turn southeast, expanding back to eight lanes. I-24 then turns southeast towards Chattanooga , and I-40 shifts eastward. The eastern terminus of I-440 and
23168-402: The next year property tax revenues collapsed, and the city could not make payments on its municipal debts. As a result, Memphis temporarily lost its city charter and was reclassified by the state legislature as a Taxing District from 1878 to 1893. But a new era of sanitation was developed in the city, a new municipal government in 1879 helped form the first regional health organization, and during
23349-402: The north. A few miles later, it has a trumpet interchange with the eastern terminus of I-840 east of Lebanon . I-40 then enters Lebanon, shrinking back to four lanes, and interchanges with US 231 and US 70. The highway continues primarily across farmland for about 25 miles (40 km), passing a number of small communities. East of Lebanon, it enters Smith County and begins
23530-518: The northern foothills of English Mountain , the Interstate turns south to an interchange with US 321. After leaving Newport, the road crosses the Pigeon River , intersects SR 73 near Cosby , and again turns south for a view of 4,928-foot (1,502 m) Mount Cammerer at the northeastern end of the Great Smoky Mountains . The highway crosses the Pigeon River again and intersects
23711-523: The northern portion of I-240 as the remainder of I-40; this added about 3.4 miles (5.5 km) to the route. About four miles (6.4 km) of a controlled-access highway was built within the I-240 loop east of the park before the cancellation; this portion of highway was named Sam Cooper Boulevard in December 1986, and terminates at East Parkway in the Binghampton neighborhood near the park. Right-of-way
23892-451: The orphans at St. Mary's, delivering children to the Canfield Asylum, and taking soup and medicine on house calls to patients. Between September 9 and October 4, Sister Constance and three other nuns fell victim to the epidemic and died. They later became known as the Martyrs of Memphis. At long last, on October 28, a killing frost struck. The city sent out word to Memphians scattered all over
24073-499: The park or constructing the highway below grade, but concluded that the alternatives were too expensive. On January 9, 1981, Governor Alexander submitted a request to Secretary of Transportation Neil Goldschmidt to cancel the route through Overton Park, which was approved seven days later. On June 28, 1982, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials approved an application by TDOT to redesignate
24254-509: The poorer whites and blacks fundamentally made up the city and played the greatest role in rebuilding it. The epidemic had resulted in Memphis being a less cosmopolitan place, with an economy that served the cotton trade and a population drawn increasingly from poor white and black Southerners. The 1890 election was strongly contested, resulting in white opponents of the D. P. Hadden faction working to deprive them of votes by disenfranchising blacks . The state had enacted several laws, including
24435-703: The population in 1850, but 23.2% by 1860, when the total population was 22,623. Tennessee seceded from the Union in June 1861, and Memphis briefly became a Confederate stronghold. Union ironclad gunboats captured it in the naval Battle of Memphis on June 6, 1862, and the city and state were occupied by the Union Army for the duration of the war. Union commanders allowed the city to maintain its civil government during most of this period but excluded Confederate States Army veterans from office. This shifted political dynamics in
24616-416: The poverty and hardship it wrought, giving further credence to Memphis as a rough, shiftless city. Leading up to the outbreak in 1878, it had suffered two yellow fever epidemics, cholera , and malaria , giving it a reputation as sickly and filthy. It was unheard of for a city with a population as large as Memphis's not to have any waterworks; the city still relied for supplies entirely on collecting water from
24797-504: The predecessor to TDOT, the agency designated these roads as the Memphis to Bristol Highway, and numbered them SR 1 eight years later. When the United States Numbered Highway System was formed in 1926, the route connecting Memphis and Knoxville became part of US 70 and US 70S ; the route from Knoxville to Bristol was designated as part of US 11 and US 11W . The highway became part of
24978-478: The publisher's summary of L.B. Wrenn's study of the period, "This centralization of political power in a small commission aided the efficient transaction of municipal business, but the public policies that resulted from it tended to benefit upper-class Memphians while neglecting the less affluent residents and neighborhoods." The city installed a revolutionary sewer system and upgraded sanitation and drainage to prevent another epidemic. Pure water from an artesian well
25159-408: The remains of Confederate General and Ku Klux Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest were removed from a Memphis park. On January 7, 2023, after a routine traffic stop, five African American police officers brutally beat a 29-year-old African American man, Tyre Nichols . Nichols died from his injuries in the hospital three days later. Officer body cam footage and local surveillance cameras captured
25340-403: The requirement of poll taxes , that made it more difficult for them to register to vote and served to disenfranchise many blacks. Although political party factions in the future sometimes paid poll taxes to enable blacks to vote, African Americans lost their last positions on the city council in this election and were forced out of the police force. (They did not recover the ability to exercise
25521-418: The right shoulders, narrowing the lanes by one foot (30 cm), and shifting traffic slightly to the left. The short segment of I-40 from east of the split with I-24/I-440 and east of SR 255 (Donelson Pike) in eastern Nashville was widened to six lanes from August 1986 to December 1987. From October 1987 to November 1989, the 4.7-mile (7.6 km) segment from east of SR 255 to east of SR 45
25702-424: The river and rain cisterns, and had no way to remove sewage. The combination of a swelling population, especially of lower and working classes, and abysmal health and sanitary conditions made Memphis ripe for a serious epidemic. Kate Bionda, an owner of an Italian "snack house", died of a fever on August 13, 1878. Hers was officially reported by the Board of Health, on August 14, as the first case of yellow fever in
25883-586: The river, the highway crosses the Buffalo River and intersects SR 13 , which connects to Linden and Waverly . It then descends another steep grade, again with a westbound truck-climbing lane, and crosses into Hickman County . It soon reaches SR 50 , which connects to Centerville , and crosses the Duck River . The highway enters Dickson County several miles later, where it reaches SR 48 and access to Centerville and Dickson . I-40 then crosses
26064-651: The route between the state capitol and his home in Cookeville. In 1990, the segment from near Farragut to the North Carolina line was named "Troy A. McGill Memorial Highway" after a Knoxville-born U.S. Army soldier who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Admiralty Islands campaign in World War II . The name was changed to "Troy A. McGill Medal of Honor Memorial Highway" in 2022. In 2023,
26245-582: The route vary from flat, level plains and swamplands in the west to irregular rolling hills, cavernous limestone bluffs, and deep river gorges in the central part of the state, to plateau tablelands , broad river valleys, narrow mountain passes, and mountain peaks in the east. The Interstate parallels the older U.S. Route 70 (US 70) corridor for its entire length in the state. It has interchanges and concurrencies with four other mainline Interstate Highways, and has five auxiliary routes : I-140 , I-240 , I-440 , I-640 , and I-840 . I-40 in Tennessee
26426-415: The safety hazards of the bridge's rails prior to the accident. TDOT widened both spans of the bridge from three to four lanes and added shoulders in a $ 10.6 million (equivalent to $ 46.6 million in 2023) project that completely closed the northbound span between January 20, 1974, and April 6, 1975, and the southbound span from April 6, 1975, to November 16, 1975. In May of 2000, I-65 was rerouted off of
26607-477: The segment to a minimum of six through lanes; added frontage roads; and reconstructed the gridlock-prone cloverleaf interchange with I-75 known as "Malfunction Junction" into a stack interchange with overpasses. The non-contiguous segment between US 11W (Rutledge Pike) and US 11E/25W/70 (Asheville Highway) was also widened to six lanes. Work was completed on March 30, 1982, with a ceremony officiated by Governor Alexander. While these projects were underway,
26788-417: The site became the westernmost point of the newly admitted state of Tennessee, in what was then called the Southwest United States. The area was still largely occupied and controlled by the Chickasaw nation. Captain Isaac Guion led an American force down the Ohio River to claim the land, arriving on July 20, 1797. By this time, the Spanish had departed. The fort's ruins went unnoticed 20 years later when Memphis
26969-432: The span carrying I-24 eastbound traffic to I-24 and I-40 eastbound. These four ramps quickly converge into two separate spans, each carrying four lanes, which, over the course of the length, gradually merge closer. At the northern end of the bridges, the lanes become separated by a jersey barrier . While I-24 runs east to west, the Silliman Evans Bridge is aligned in almost an exact north-south direction. Directly southeast of
27150-436: The stretch through Cocke County was named "Charles L. McGaha Medal of Honor Memorial Highway" after a soldier from Cosby who won the Medal of Honor for service in the 1944–1945 Philippines campaign in World War II. A number of short sections, bridges, and interchanges are named for state troopers and TDOT employees killed in the line of duty, as well as local politicians and other prominent citizens. On September 24, 2008,
27331-472: The three-mile (4.8 km) segment from US 25W/70 to US 321 in Newport. On July 24, 1966, I-40 was completed between Memphis and Nashville with the opening of the 64-mile (103 km) segment from SR 22 in Parkers Crossroads to SR 46 near Dickson after seven months of weather-related delays. The Nashville section between US 70 and 46th Avenue was also completed. A dedication ceremony, officiated by Clement and US Senator Albert Gore Sr. ,
27512-462: The uncertain nature of their own claim to "whiteness"; they were trying to distinguish themselves from blacks in the underclass. The main fighting participants were ethnic Irish, decommissioned black Union soldiers, and newly emancipated African-American freedmen . Walker suggests that most of the mob was not in direct economic conflict with the blacks, as by then the Irish had attained better jobs, but were establishing social and political dominance over
27693-714: The view to the north. After an interchange with SR 58 southbound in Kingston , the Interstate begins a brief concurrency with this route. It climbs a short, relatively-steep ridge out of the Clinch River Valley, and SR 58 splits off to the north toward Oak Ridge . Continuing through rugged terrain and across additional ridges, the Interstate enters Loudon County and intersects US 321 / SR 95 near Lenoir City before reaching I-75. I-40 merges with I-75 , which continues southwest to Chattanooga, about 20 miles (32 km) west-southwest of downtown Knoxville . The two routes turn east-northeast, carrying six through lanes, and enter Knox County . After climbing
27874-512: The westbound highway has a truck-climbing lane. After a few miles, I-40 intersects a connector road to US 70 near the town of Crab Orchard . It winds through Crab Orchard Gap, a narrow pass at the base of the Cumberland Mountains which was once prone to rockslides . The Interstate then briefly ascends, with the eastbound lanes adding a truck-climbing lane. At the top it enters Roane County , also transitioning from Central to Eastern Time . The Interstate then curves northeast and begins
28055-424: The westbound lanes of the concurrent segment with I-24: sensors embedded in the roadway which were connected to overhead warning signs with flashing lights and horns. The system (the first of its kind in the country) experienced technical problems, was criticized as ineffective, and was decommissioned in July 1980. This segment of I-40 was widened from six to eight lanes between July 1979 and January 1980 by removing
28236-479: The world's largest spot cotton market and the world's largest hardwood lumber market, both commodity products of the Mississippi Delta. Into the 1950s, it was also the world's largest mule market. These animals were still used extensively for agriculture. Attracting workers from Southern rural areas as well as new European immigrants, from 1900 to 1950 the city increased nearly fourfold in population, from 102,350 to 396,000 residents. Racist violence continued into
28417-652: Was 22,623, to nearly 20,000 in 1865, with most settling south of the city limits. The rapid demographic changes added to the stress of war and occupation and uncertainty about who was in charge, increasing tensions between the city's ethnic Irish policemen and black Union soldiers after the war. In three days of rioting in early May 1866, the Memphis Riots erupted, in which white mobs made up of policemen, firemen, and other mostly ethnic Irish Americans attacked and killed 46 blacks, wounding 75 and injuring 100; raped several women; and destroyed nearly 100 houses while severely damaging churches and schools in South Memphis. Much of
28598-446: Was also acquired west of the park, and many structures were demolished to make way for the Interstate; some of these empty lots have since been built on. When the route was canceled, about $ 280 million (equivalent to $ 795 million in 2023 ) had been budgeted by the federal government for its construction; these funds were then diverted for other transportation improvements in the Memphis metropolitan area . I-40 passes through
28779-421: Was among 1,047.6 miles (1,685.9 km) of Interstate Highways authorized for the state by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 , commonly known as the Interstate Highway Act. Its numbering was approved by the American Association of State Highway Officials on August 14, 1957. At 451.8 miles (727.1 km) long, I-40 in Tennessee was initially the longest segment of Interstate Highway in a single state east of
28960-413: Was approved by the Bureau of Public Roads in November 1956. The park consists of a wooded refuge, the Memphis Zoo , the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art , the Memphis College of Art , a nine-hole golf course , an amphitheater which was the site of Elvis Presley 's first paid concert in 1954, and other amenities. When the state announced the routing through the park, a group of local citizens spearheaded by
29141-482: Was complete by the end of 1964, but paving was delayed to allow additional progress in North Carolina. On October 24, 1968, the 37-mile (60 km) stretch between US 321/SR 32 in Newport and US 276 in Haywood County, North Carolina , was opened to traffic by both states with a dedication ceremony. In Nashville, the segment linking 46th Avenue with I-65 opened to traffic on March 15, 1971. The Memphis section from US 51 to Chelsea Avenue, including
29322-414: Was completed in July 2014. The four-mile (6.4 km) stretch from east of SR 109 to east of I-840 in Lebanon was widened from four to eight lanes between April 2019 and September 2021. Beginning in early May 1980, the segment of I-40 in Knoxville between Papermill Road and Gay Street was modified in a project which modified the interchanges with 17th Street, Western Avenue, and Gay Street; widened
29503-462: Was completed on July 21, 1965, at a cost of $ 4.62 million (equivalent to $ 34.1 million in 2023 ). Several segments of the western portion of the 26-mile (42 km) stretch connecting Spence Lane in Nashville and US 70 in Lebanon were opened to local traffic in 1963; the entire stretch was dedicated by Clement on August 26, 1965. The 10.5-mile (16.9 km) segment from SR 13 in Humphreys County and SR 230 in Hickman County
29684-449: Was completed on November 14, 1952; the second segment, joining Tulip Avenue and Gay Street , was completed on December 10, 1955. The Magnolia Avenue Expressway had a cloverleaf interchange which was reused for the intersection with I-75 (now I-275) and US 441. This configuration quickly developed a reputation for severe congestion and a high accident rate, and became known locally as "Malfunction Junction". The general location of
29865-421: Was completed on November 24, 1965. On December 20, 1965, four segments were declared complete by the state highway department: the 19-mile (31 km) stretch connecting US 70 in Lebanon to SR 53 in Gordonsville, the eight-mile (13 km) segment from the Tennessee River to SR 13 in Humphreys County, the 11-mile (18 km) stretch linking US 70N in Cookeville and US 70N in Monterey, and
30046-610: Was completed. The opening of the Knoxville stretch linking Papermill Road and Liberty Street was announced on September 4, 1964. Two non-contiguous sections – between US 27 in Harriman and the Clinch River Bridge in Kingston, and from Liberty to Unaka Street in downtown Knoxville – were opened on December 4, 1964. Two separate stretches, 23 miles (37 km) linking I-240 in Memphis and SR 59 in Braden, and 21 miles (34 km) connecting US 70 in Jackson and SR 22 in Parkers Crossroads, were dedicated by Clement 10 days later. In Nashville,
30227-450: Was constructed from portions of Tollunteeskee's Trail, Avery's Trace, and the Emery Road (an earlier trail cleared by settlers) and passed through Kingston, Carthage, and Gallatin. In 1911, a series of Tennessee businesspeople formed the Memphis to Bristol Highway Association to encourage the state to improve the roads which ran between Memphis and Bristol . After the 1915 formation of the Tennessee Department of Highways and Public Works,
30408-415: Was dedicated by Dunn and partially opened to traffic on December 20, 1974; it fully opened on September 12, 1975. Initially planned with four lanes, engineers chose to expand this segment to six lanes in 1972 after construction had begun, based on studies projecting a higher-than-average traffic volume. This segment, one of the nation's first rural six-lane highways, was also dedicated on the same day that
30589-400: Was delayed until October 2013 due to funding and redesign complications. A two-lane overpass was built to carry I-40 eastbound traffic through the interchange, replacing a one-lane ramp. The single-lane ramp carrying I-40 westbound traffic through the interchange was repurposed as the exit ramp for Summer Avenue, and was replaced with a two-lane overpass connecting to the overpass constructed in
30770-439: Was discovered in the 1880s, securing the city's water supply. The commissioners developed an extensive network of parks and public works as part of the national City Beautiful movement , but did not encourage heavy industry, which might have provided substantial employment for the working-class population. The lack of representation in city government resulted in the poor and minorities being underrepresented. The majority controlled
30951-447: Was first used by settlers and explorers in the 1760s. The North Carolina General Assembly (which controlled present-day Tennessee) authorized in 1787 construction of a trail between the southern end of Clinch Mountain (near present-day Knoxville) and the Cumberland Association , which included modern-day Nashville. Completed the following year, the trail became known as Avery's Trace and followed several Native American trails. After
31132-421: Was forced to move away from the city. But she continued to investigate and publish the abuses of lynching . Businessmen were eager to increase the city population after the losses of 1878–79, and supported the annexation of new areas; this measure was passed in 1890 before the census. The annexation measure was finally approved by the state legislature through a compromise achieved with real estate magnates, and
31313-400: Was founded, it was part of the United States territory. John Overton , James Winchester , and Andrew Jackson founded the city. Based on the wealth of cotton plantations and river traffic along the Mississippi, Memphis grew into one of the largest cities of the Antebellum South . After the Civil War and the end of slavery , the city continued to grow into the 20th century. It became among
31494-628: Was held on the Tennessee River Bridge. This was the first Interstate Highway segment between two major cities in Tennessee, and cost $ 109.87 million (equivalent to $ 788 million in 2023 ). The section joining US 25W/70 to SR 113 in Jefferson County, including the interchange with I-81, was completed in December 1966. On April 11, 1967, the segment in Knoxville from Gay Street to US 11W opened. The 16-mile (26 km) segment linking US 70N in Monterey and US 127 in Crossville opened to traffic on December 1 of that year. The final section of I-40 in Knoxville to be completed
31675-399: Was laid out as a city after the United States government paid the Chickasaw for land. At the beginning of the century, as recognized by the United States in 1786 Treaty of Hopewell , the land still belonged to the Chickasaw Nation . In the Treaty of Tuscaloosa , signed in October 1818 and ratified by Congress on January 7, 1819, the Chickasaw ceded their territory in Western Tennessee to
31856-421: Was mostly complete by the late 1960s, having been constructed in segments. The stretch between Memphis and Nashville, completed in 1966, was the state's first major Interstate segment to be finished. The last planned section was completed in 1975, and much of the route has been widened and reconstructed since then. The I-40 corridor between Memphis and Nashville is known as Music Highway because it passes through
32037-533: Was reconstructed with two projects. The first, which began in January 2001 and finished in October 2003, constructed a two-lane overpass from I-40 westbound to I-240 westbound; this replaced a one-lane loop ramp and widened the approach of I-240 south of the interchange. I-40 north of the interchange was also reconstructed in preparation for the second project, and the interchanges with US 64/70/79 (Summer Avenue) and White Station Road were modified. The second project, initially scheduled to begin in January 2004,
32218-451: Was the segment connecting US 11W and US 11E/25W/70, which opened on December 19, 1967, to eastbound traffic and on June 21, 1968, to westbound traffic. The 12-mile-long (19 km) segment from US 127 in Crossville to US 70 in Crab Orchard opened on September 12, 1968. The adjacent section, extending to SR 299 near the eastern escarpment of the Cumberland Plateau, followed on September 26, 1969. The section through
32399-412: Was to separate the poor from the city and isolate them in refugee camps. The Howard Association, formed specifically for yellow fever epidemics in New Orleans and Memphis, organized nurses and doctors in Memphis and throughout the country. They stayed at the Peabody Hotel , the only hotel to keep its doors open during the epidemic. From there they were assigned to their respective districts. Physicians of
32580-471: Was underway for most of the entire Tennessee route. The first contract for construction of I-40 in Tennessee as part of the Interstate Highway System was awarded on August 2, 1957, for a 4.8-mile (7.7 km) section in Roane County near Kingston, between the Clinch River and SR 58; construction began the following month. Construction of I-40 between Memphis and Nashville began on September 18, 1958, in Madison County near Jackson. On October 19, 1961,
32761-489: Was widened from four to eight lanes. West of downtown Nashville, the three-mile (4.8 km) section between SR 155 (Briley Parkway/White Bridge Road) and US 70 (Charlotte Pike) was expanded to six lanes from February 1988 to December 1989. From April 1991 to December 1992, the 5.9-mile (9.5 km) section in Bellevue linking US 70 and US 70S was widened to six lanes. The first HOV lanes on I-40 in Tennessee were opened to traffic on November 14, 1996, with
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