Interstate 240 (Tennessee)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Interstate 240 Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System
Length:	19.27 mi[1] (31.01 km)
West end:	I-40 in Memphis
East end:	I-40 in Memphis
Tennessee State Routes < SR-239 SR-240 >

Interstate 240 (abbreviated I-240) is an Interstate highway in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Running 19.27 miles or 31.0km, it loops southward from Interstate 40 in east Memphis, then turning west at TN 385 (Bill Morris Parkway). At I-55, the highway turns north and runs through midtown to end at I-40.

I-240 was first planned circa 1955, but it was to have been a 30.8 mile or 49.6km beltway to completely encircle midtown Memphis, with the exception of the segment between Interstates 40 and 55, which was proposed as Interstate 255. Later, that number was decommissioned in favor of I-240 running in a full loop, with I-40 running from downtown to east Memphis. However, in 1957 citizens collected 10,000 signatures protesting the route, which cut through Overton Park in midtown. The controversy lasted until the 1970s, when the Supreme Court ruled that the Overton Park route be canceled, shifting I-40 onto the northern leg of I-240. Part of the proposed I-40 route was already built -- from N. Highland St. east to the I-40/240 junction. The road is now called Sam Cooper Boulevard, and is owned by the city. Recently, the City of Memphis built an extension to the former I-40 section of Sam Cooper Blvd. This extension runs west from N. Tillman St. (the former entry/end point for Sam Cooper Boulevard) as a limited access parkway to East Parkway N. (a former exit for the proposed "Overton Park route").

The interstates overlapped around the northern bypass of Memphis for many years, but I-240 signs were later removed from the northern leg for reasons of redundancy. (The exit numbers for I-240 -- the exception being exits 1A-1C, which were changed to 1E-1G -- remain, causing redundancy on I-40 exits 1, 1A-G, 12, and 12A-C.)

I-240 has seen much reconstruction over the past decade, as area growth has demanded increased capacity. Both interchanges with I-40 are have been reconstructed (with further improvements coming to the East Memphis interchange in a few years) due to the amount of traffic taking I-40 through Memphis.

On January 18, 2008, the Federal Highway Administration authorized the states of Mississippi and Tennessee to extend I-69 from the I-40/TN 300 interchange in north Memphis to the I-55/I-69 interchange in Hernando; however, Tennessee has not yet signed the extension of the route, although Mississippi has already done so.^[2]

[edit] Exit list

The exits on I-240 run clockwise from east to west, reflecting their initial numbering as part of a circumferential beltway.

#	Destinations	Notes
	I-40 west - Little Rock	Counterclockwise exit and clockwise entrance
12B	Sam Cooper Boulevard	Counterclockwise exit and clockwise entrance
12C	I-40 east - Nashville	Counterclockwise exit and clockwise entrance
13	Walnut Grove Road (SR 23)
15	US-72 (Poplar Avenue, SR 57) - Germantown	Signed as exits 15A (east) and 15B (west) counterclockwise
16	SR-385 east (Bill Morris Parkway) - Collierville
17	Mount Moriah Road
18	Perkins Road
20	SR-176 (Getwell Road)	Signed as exits 20A (south) and 20B (north) counterclockwise
21	US-78 (Lamar Avenue, SR 4) - Birmingham
23	Airways Boulevard - Memphis International Airport	Signed as exits 23A (north) and 23B (south)
24	Millbranch Road, Nonconnah Boulevard
	Begin concurrency
25A	I-55 south / I-69 south - Jackson, Mississippi
25B	I-55 north - St. Louis
26	Norris Road
28	South Parkway	Signed as exits 28A (east) and 28B (west)
29	Lamar Avenue, Crump Boulevard (US 78, SR 4)
30	Union Avenue (US 51, US 64, US 70, US 79, SR 3)	Clockwise exit and counterclockwise entrance
30	Madison Avenue	Counterclockwise exit and clockwise entrance
31	I-40 west - Little Rock	Clockwise exit and counterclockwise entrance
32	SR-14 (Jackson Avenue)	Clockwise exit and counterclockwise entrance
	I-40 east / I-69 north - Nashville	Clockwise exit and counterclockwise entrance

[edit] References

v • d • e Auxiliary routes of Interstate 40 Oklahoma: 240 — Arkansas: 440 • 540 — Tennessee: 140 • 240 • 440 • 640 — North Carolina: 140 • 240 • 440 • 540 • 840 (future)