Interstate 69 in Tennessee

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Interstate 69
future route of the Interstate Highway System

Tennessee State Routes
< SR-68		SR-69 >

The proposed Interstate 69 will pass through the western part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, serving the cities of Union City, Troy, Dyersburg, and Memphis. State officials are considering building parts of I-69 as a toll road.

1 Route description
2 Planned extension
3 References

[edit] Route description

From Fulton, Kentucky, I-69 is planned to continue to the southwest, replacing and bypassing existing U.S. Route 51, serving Union City, Dyersburg (where it will intersect Interstate 155), Ripley, Covington, and Millington. Tennessee is considering legislation that would allow I-69 to be built as a toll road, thereby accelerating its design and construction timetable by several years should such legislation be approved.^[1] Tennessee's toll road legislation comes as Congress withdrew $171 million allocated for Tennessee highway projects, including funds for I-69. This federal highway allotment was diverted to fund ongoing military operations in Iraq.^[2]

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, Mississippi; however, Tennessee has not yet signed the extension of the route, although Mississippi has already done so.^[3]

[edit] Planned extension

I-69 has been divided into three of segments of independent utility (SIUs).

[edit] SIU 7

This segment begins at the Kentucky/Tennessee border in Fulton, and closely follows US Highway 51 to Dyersburg. The 20-mile (32 km) section between Dyersburg and Troy is at interstate standards—opening with the completion of Interstate 155 west of Dyersburg. An additional 10-mile (16 km) section north of Union City is also an expressway. Thus, much of the work on SIU 7 will involve bypassing the 15-mile (24 km) section of US-51 between Troy and Union City, where it is currently a 4-lane surface arterial with at-grade intersections. This portion has been divided into five smaller segments. As of December 2006, land acquisition and utility relocations are underway in all five sub-sections. This advanced work was scheduled to be completed during 2007, but has been delayed until the end of 2010 due to the funding issues explained above in the Route description.

Construction of an 18-mile segment of Interstate 69 in Obion County could begin as early as the summer of 2008.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] SIU 8

SIU 8 proceeds south from Dyersburg, paralleling US Highway 51 to a planned interchange with TN-385 (I-269) in Millington. To facilitate work on the Draft EIS this segment, the Tennessee Department of Transportation has divided SIU 8 into three smaller segments. In April 2006 TDOT has announced the preferred routing for the northern and southern subsections, favoring an alignment to the west of Highway 51. Meanwhile, studies are still ongoing for the central section, which include alignments both east and west of the existing US Highway 51. Once TDOT identifies the preferred alignment for the central segment, it is expected that a supplemental draft EIS will be necessary before the final EIS can be prepared, likely delaying approval until at least 2008.

The routing of I-69 has been criticized by the state Sierra Club chapter for not making use of the existing right-of-way for U.S. 51 and for potentially impacting the Hatchie River, a state-designated scenic river.

[edit] SIU 9

South of Millington, I-69 will intersect the Interstate 269 Memphis Outer Beltway, then continue southwest, roughly parallel to U.S. 51, and connect with Interstate 40 at the existing State Route 300 interchange in the Frayser neighborhood. Interstate 69 will then merge with I-40 for about 3 miles (5 km) to the I-40/I-240 Midtown Interchange, where I-69 will continue south along the Midtown portion of I-240 (mileposts 25-31) to the I-240/I-55 interchange in Whitehaven. From that interchange, I-69 will continue south, merged with I-55 for approximately 12 miles (19 km), crossing the Mississippi state line. The Mississippi Department of Transportation has been working on widening I-55 between Hernando and the Tennessee State Line, adding travel lanes in each direction, reconstructing bridges, and improving traffic flow at interchanges. Meanwhile, TDOT is reconstructing I-55 and I-240 from the Mississippi line to downtown Memphis. With much of the route already built and at Interstate standards through Memphis, I-69 signs may appear soon on I-240 and I-55, although TDOT may wait until SIUs 7 and 8 are completed before erecting I-69 signs in Memphis.

In addition to the I-69 routing through downtown Memphis, SIU 9 also includes construction of the Interstate 269 Memphis Outer Loop. In the EIS, the combination of the I-69 downtown routing combined with the I-269 loop is referred to as the "Systems Option" for SIU-9. As of September 2006, a 21-mile (34 km) segment of I-269 from Millington to Eads is open to traffic (signed as State Route 385). A second segment between Collierville and US Highway 72 is under construction. Construction on the 28.6-mile (46.0 km) portion of I-269 between US-72 in Collierville and I-55/I-69/MS-304 in Hernando is expected to begin around 2010 and cost $450 million.^[4]

The FHWA issued a Record of Decision on January 29, 2007, approving the Final EIS for the "Systems Option" and authorizing Tennessee and Mississippi to begin land acquisition and construction on the remaining portions of I-69 and I-269 through Memphis. Immediately following this decision, Mississippi solicited bids from engineers to complete the final design on its section of I-269. Four engineering firms began preliminary field work and final design on their portion of I-269 on March 22, 2007. ^[5] MDOT has advanced the final design timetable and plans to begin ROW acquisition between I-55/I-69 and US-78 by the end of 2007. Construction on I-269 in Mississippi will commence once all necessary land has been acquired.^[6] MDOT and DeSoto County also plan to upgrade several local roads that I-269 is planned to cross in preparation for expected growth once the highway is built.^[7] As noted above, FHWA has authorized TDOT and MDOT to post the I-69 designation along I-40, I-240, and I-55 in Memphis, officially extending the route into Tennessee from Mississippi.