Interstate 40 in Tennessee

Overview

Interstate 40, often called I-40, is a major highway that stretches over 2,556 miles from Barstow, California to Wilmington, North Carolina. In Tennessee, it is the longest interstate highway in the state, covering 455 miles as it runs from west to east. It connects some of Tennessee's biggest cities, including Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville. It even leads to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most visited national park in the United States.

Geography

As I-40 crosses Tennessee, it moves through very different landscapes. In the western part of the state, the land is flat and often swampy. Moving toward the center, the terrain becomes hilly with limestone bluffs and deep valleys. Finally, in eastern Tennessee, the highway goes through plateaus, river valleys, and even mountain passes in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

History

The part of I-40 between Memphis and Nashville is nicknamed the Music Highway because this area helped shape American popular music. The highway also has a special history. In 1971, a court case about plans to build the highway through a place called Overton Park changed how courts review big building projects. Because of this, the highway was moved to a different route that was originally part of I-240.

Route description

I-40 runs for 455 miles through Tennessee, making it the 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 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/Route 70 and Papermill Road. The lowest daily traffic volume that year was at the North Carolina state line. The busiest weigh station in the country is on I-40/I-75 in Farragut, a suburb of Knoxville.

West Tennessee

Memphis

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. Entering the city of Memphis, 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 turns north near Midtown. It then intersects SR 14 (Jackson Avenue). Proceeding north, the highway crosses the Wolf River and shifts due east, bypassing central Memphis to the north. The Interstate then shifts due east, bypassing central Memphis to the north. After passing through Lakeland, the Interstate reaches a cloverleaf interchange with the eastern ends of I-269 and SR 385 near the suburb of Arlington.

Gulf coastal plain

Leaving the Memphis area, I-40 enters Fayette County east of Arlington; about five miles later, it crosses the Loosahatchie River and adjacent wetlands. Over the next 30 miles, the Interstate crosses a level expanse of farmland and some woodlands and swamplands in a straight alignment, bypassing most cities and communities. 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 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. 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 at the Decatur–Benton county line. About six miles later, the Interstate descends 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 the 0.5-mile Jimmy Mann Evans Memorial Bridge into Middle Tennessee.

Middle Tennessee

Western Highland Rim

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. The highway enters Dickson County several miles later. I-40 then crosses the Piney River.

Several miles beyond this point is an interchange with SR 46, the primary exit for Dickson. 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 a short distance. 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.

Nashville

Around milepost 191, I-40 enters Davidson County and crosses 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) 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.

The highway briefly passes through 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/Route 431 (Broadway), Church Street, and Demonbreun Street. Next they shift east-northeast near Music Row and the neighborhoods of The Gulch and SoBro, where I-65 turns south toward Huntsville, Alabama. Briefly independent for about one mile, I-40 crosses a viaduct and intersects US 31A/US 41A before beginning a brief concurrency with I-24. The concurrent Interstates turn southeast, expanding back to eight lanes. I-24 then turns southeast toward Chattanooga, and I-40 shifts eastward. The eastern terminus of I-440 and 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. Shifting northeast, I-40 crosses 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 the north. I-40 then enters Lebanon, shrinking back to four lanes, and interchanges with US 231 and US 70.

Eastern Nashville Basin, Eastern Highland Rim, and Cumberland Plateau

The highway continues primarily across farmland for about 25 miles, passing a number of small communities. East of Lebanon, it enters Smith County and begins 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 the Eastern Highland Rim. 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 a steep, approximately five-mile ascent onto the Cumberland Plateau, reaching an elevation of nearly 2,000 feet at the top. The Interstate then continues through a wooded area before reaching Monterey and turning southeast. Here it has two interchanges with US 70N. After a few miles, the highway reaches an elevation of 2,000 feet just before crossing into Cumberland County and East Tennessee.

East Tennessee

Cumberland Plateau and Tennessee Valley

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 the Cumberland and Tennessee river watersheds meet, at mile marker 308. The Interstate reaches Crossville, where it crosses the Obed River, about 10 miles later. East of Crossville, the Crab Orchard Mountains (the southern range of the Cumberland Mountains) come into view.

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. The Interstate then briefly ascends. At the top it enters Roane County. The Interstate then curves northeast and begins 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. The highway hugs the slopes of the plateau's Walden Ridge escarpment for several miles, containing dramatic views of the Tennessee Valley, before reaching the base of the plateau about 800 feet 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 twin smokestacks dominating 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.

Knoxville

See also: Interstate 75 in Tennessee § Knoxville

I-40 merges with I-75, which continues southwest to Chattanooga, about 20 miles west-southwest of downtown Knoxville. The two routes turn east-northeast, carrying six through lanes, and enter Knox County. After climbing 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/Route 70 (Kingston Pike) near 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 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 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. I-40 then curves north and northeast before an interchange with a connector to US 441. It enters 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 the Holston River.

Smoky Mountains and Pigeon River gorge

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. Gradually turning northeast, the highway enters Jefferson County. After a gradual ascent of about five miles, 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 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 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 Mount Cammerer at the northeastern end of the Great Smoky Mountains. The highway crosses the Pigeon River again and intersects 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 and trucks are prohibited from using the left lane. The route gradually curves southeast near Hartford and, after several miles, crosses the Appalachian Trail and enters North Carolina.

"Music Highway" and honorary designations

The part of Interstate 40 between Memphis and Nashville is called the "Music Highway." This name was given in 1997 to honor these cities and the areas in between for their role in creating American popular music. Memphis is famous as the Home of the Blues and the Birthplace of Rock and Roll. Nashville is known as "Music City" for its big influence on country music. Signs with "Music Highway" and musical notes can be seen along the road.

Some parts of I-40 in Tennessee have special names to honor important people. For example, in Memphis, the road is called "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway." Other sections are named to remember singers, soldiers, and people who served the state. There are also special names for several bridges along the highway, like the "Hernando de Soto Bridge" and the "Jimmy Mann Evans Memorial Bridge."

History

Predecessor highways

Before Tennessee was settled by European Americans, Native American trails crossed the land where I-40 now runs. The Cumberland Trace, also called Tollunteeskee's Trail, was a Cherokee trail through the central Cumberland Plateau. Settlers and explorers used it in the 1760s. In 1787, the North Carolina General Assembly approved building a trail from the southern end of Clinch Mountain to the Cumberland Association. Finished in 1788, this trail was called Avery's Trace. After Tennessee became the Southwest Territory, leaders there built a wagon trail between Knoxville and Nashville in 1795. This trail, the Cumberland Turnpike, was also called the Walton Road after a surveyor, William Walton, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War. Built from 1799 to 1801, it used parts of several older trails and passed through Kingston, Carthage, and Gallatin.

In 1911, Tennessee businesspeople formed the Memphis to Bristol Highway Association to push for better roads between Memphis and Bristol. After the Tennessee Department of Highways and Public Works was created, it made these roads the Memphis to Bristol Highway and numbered them SR 1. In 1926, when the United States Numbered Highway System began, the road from Memphis to Knoxville became US 70 and US 70S, and the road from Knoxville to Bristol became US 11 and US 11W. In the late 1920s, this highway became part of the Broadway of America auto trail that linked California and New York.

Planning

The first part of I-40 in Tennessee was a 1.09-mile highway in Knoxville, built by state and local governments. It was called the Magnolia Avenue Expressway and later the Frank Regas Expressway. It started from a 1945 plan to build expressways in Knoxville to reduce traffic. Planners wanted these highways to join the proposed nationwide highway network that became the Interstate Highway System. The highway's location and design were finished in a 1948 plan, and building started on October 1, 1951. The first part, between Unaka Street and Tulip Avenue, opened on November 14, 1952. The second part, joining Tulip Avenue and Gay Street, opened on December 10, 1955. This highway had a cloverleaf interchange that was later used for the crossing with I-75 (now I-275) and US 441. This area soon became very busy and had many accidents, and was called "Malfunction Junction."

The general path for I-40 was part of a 1944 report called "Interregional Highways" and a 1947 plan from the Public Roads Administration of the Federal Works Agency. The hard part for planners was the Blue Ridge Mountains, where people in Western North Carolina disagreed about whether the highway should follow the Pigeon River or the French Broad River. Surveys for both routes were approved in 1945, and the first survey for the Pigeon River route was done in 1948. After more studies, the North Carolina Highway Commission chose the Pigeon River route in 1955; this was approved by the Bureau of Public Roads on April 12, 1956. The Tennessee part of I-40 was among 1,047.6 miles of Interstate Highways approved for the state by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, 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, I-40 in Tennessee was the longest Interstate Highway in a single state east of the Mississippi River until an extension of I-75 in Florida was approved by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1968. The first design contract for I-40 in Tennessee was given on March 4, 1956, for a short section in Davidson County. Within a year, design contracts were given for sections in Davidson, Knox, Roane, Haywood, Madison, Jefferson, and Cocke counties. By 1958, design work was underway for most of the whole Tennessee route.

Earlier construction

The first building contract for I-40 in Tennessee was given on August 2, 1957, for a 4.8-mile section in Roane County near Kingston, between the Clinch River and SR 58; building started the next month. Building of I-40 between Memphis and Nashville began on September 18, 1958, in Madison County near Jackson. On October 19, 1961, the bridge over the Clinch River – built at a cost of $2.4 million – opened to traffic by Governor Buford Ellington. The 21.5-mile section linking US 70 east of Brownsville and US 70 in Jackson, known then as the Jackson Bypass, opened to traffic on December 1, 1961. The next day, the 31-mile part 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 part of I-40 in Middle Tennessee to open was the 14.5-mile stretch from SR 96 in Williamson County and US 70S in Bellevue, which opened on November 1, 1962. The next day, the 16.5-mile section joining SR 56 near Silver Point and US 70N in Cookeville opened. The section from US 70S in Bellevue and US 70 in western Nashville opened on November 15, 1962.

In Memphis, the section between I-240/Sam Cooper Boulevard and US 64/70/79 – then part of I-240 – opened on October 9, 1963, by Governor Frank G. Clement and to traffic 14 days later. That same month, contracts for the last sections between Memphis and Nashville were given out. Clement opened and dedicated the 31-mile stretch linking SR 59 near Braden and US 70 east of Brownsville on December 17, 1963. Four days later, the 15-mile section from SR 53 in Gordonsville to SR 56 near Silver Point opened. On June 2, 1964, the nine-mile section connecting SR 46 in Dickson and SR 96 in Williamson County opened. The opening of the Knoxville stretch linking Papermill Road and Liberty Street was announced on September 4, 1964. Two separate sections – between US 27 in Harriman and the Clinch River Bridge in Kingston, and from Liberty to Unaka Street in downtown Knoxville – opened on December 4, 1964. Two more stretches, 23 miles linking I-240 in Memphis and SR 59 in Braden, and 21 miles connecting US 70 in Jackson and SR 22 in Parkers Crossroads, were dedicated by Clement 10 days later. In Nashville, the link between Fesslers and Spence Lanes (including the eastern interchange with I-24) opened on January 11, 1965. The nearby link to the west, between the western interchange with I-24 and Fesslers Lane, opened partially 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 it was finished on July 21, 1965, at a cost of $4.62 million. Several parts of the western part of the 26-mile stretch connecting Spence Lane in Nashville and US 70 in Lebanon opened to local traffic in 1963; the whole stretch was dedicated by Clement on August 26, 1965. The 10.5-mile section from SR 13 in Humphreys County and SR 230 in Hickman County opened on November 24, 1965. On December 20, 1965, four sections were completed: the 19-mile stretch connecting US 70 in Lebanon to SR 53 in Gordonsville, the eight-mile section from the Tennessee River to SR 13 in Humphreys County, the 11-mile stretch linking US 70N in Cookeville and US 70N in Monterey, and the three-mile section from US 25W/70 to US 321 in Newport. On July 24, 1966, I-40 was finished between Memphis and Nashville with the opening of the 64-mile section from SR 22 in Parkers Crossroads to SR 46 near Dickson after seven months of weather delays. The Nashville section between US 70 and 46th Avenue also opened. A ceremony, led by Clement and US Senator Albert Gore Sr., was held on the Tennessee River Bridge. This was the first Interstate Highway section between two major cities in Tennessee, and cost $109.87 million.

Later construction

The section joining US 25W/70 to SR 113 in Jefferson County, including the interchange with I-81, opened in December 1966. On April 11, 1967, the section in Knoxville from Gay Street to US 11W opened. The 16-mile section linking US 70N in Monterey and US 127 in Crossville opened to traffic on December 1 of that year. The last part of I-40 in Knoxville to open was the section connecting US 11W and US 11E/25W/70, which opened to eastbound traffic on December 19, 1967, and to westbound traffic on June 21, 1968. The 12-mile-long section from US 127 in Crossville to US 70 in Crab Orchard opened on September 12, 1968. The next section, extending to SR 299 near the eastern edge of the Cumberland Plateau, followed on September 26, 1969. The section through the Pigeon River Gorge in Cocke County into North Carolina was thought by some engineers to be impossible to build and was among the nation's most difficult and hard highway projects, requiring thousands of tons of earth and rock to be moved. It was one of the most expensive highway building projects per mile, at a cost of $19 million. Work began in 1961; grading and bridge building was finished by the end of 1964, but paving was delayed to let progress continue in North Carolina. On October 24, 1968, the 37-mile stretch between US 321/SR 32 in Newport and US 276 in Haywood County, North Carolina, opened to traffic by both states with a ceremony.

In Nashville, the section linking 46th Avenue with I-65 opened to traffic on March 15, 1971. The Memphis section from US 51 to Chelsea Avenue, including the Midtown interchange with I-240 (then I-255), opened on July 14 of that year. Work on the last section between Memphis and Knoxville, about 5.5 miles from the interchange with I-65 to the western split with I-24 southeast of downtown Nashville (including the overlap with I-65), began in May 1969 and opened on March 3, 1972. This finished all of I-40 from Memphis to SR 299, near Rockwood, and the last part in Middle Tennessee. The last part of the planned I-40 in West Tennessee to be completed was the Hernando de Soto Bridge in Memphis; building began on May 2, 1967, and the bridge opened to traffic on August 2, 1973. The bridge, which cost $57 million, was dedicated by Tennessee Governor Winfield Dunn and Arkansas Governor Dale Bumpers on August 17, 1973.

The nine-mile section from SR 299 to US 27 near Harriman and Rockwood, including the descent down Walden Ridge, was the last part of I-40 to open between Memphis and Knoxville, and was delayed many times by ground problems. The westbound lanes opened to two-way traffic on November 18, 1972, and the whole section opened on August 19, 1974. Work started on this section in early 1966, and was originally expected to finish by late 1968. The last part of the planned route of I-40 in Tennessee, 21.5 miles connecting US 11E/25W/70 east of Knoxville to US 25W/70 in Dandridge, was dedicated by Dunn and partially opened to traffic on December 20, 1974; it fully opened on September 12, 1975. Originally planned with four lanes, engineers chose to make this section six lanes in 1972 after building had begun, based on studies showing higher-than-average traffic. This section, one of the nation's first rural six-lane highways, was also dedicated the same day that the last sections of I-75 and I-81 in Tennessee 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. Because of its place in a floodplain, an artificial fill of 23 million cubic yards of sand and silt was needed for the roadbed, most of which was dug up and pumped from the bottom of the Mississippi River using a pipeline. Contracts for this work were given in May and July 1974. Digging and filling was finished by the end of 1977, and the section opened to traffic by Governor Lamar Alexander on March 28, 1980.

Controversies

I-40 was originally planned to go through Overton Park in Memphis, a 342-acre public park. This location was announced in 1955, and was approved by the Bureau of Public Roads in November 1956. The park has a wooded area, the Memphis Zoo, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, the Memphis College of Art, a nine-hole golf course, an amphitheater where Elvis Presley gave his first paid concert in 1954, and other features. When the state said it would build the highway through the park, a group of local people, led by some older women, started a campaign to stop building. The leaders collected over 10,000 signatures, and formed Citizens to Preserve Overton Park in 1957. The group was also supported by environmentalists, who worried that building the Interstate would harm the park's ecology.

The group filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Western District of Tennessee in December 1969 after the Secretary of Transportation allowed the state to ask for bids the month before. The suit was thrown out on February 26, 1970, by Judge Bailey Brown, which was later supported by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals on September 29, 1970. The case was then taken to the US Supreme Court, which overturned the lower-court decisions in the important case of Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe on March 2, 1971. The court said that Volpe had broken rules of the Department of Transportation Act of 1966 and the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1968, which stop the approval of federal money for highway projects through public parks if there are feasible other routes. Tennessee kept looking for ways to build I-40 through Overton Park for many years after this decision including building a tunnel under the park or making the highway below the ground, but decided that the choices were too expensive. On January 9, 1981, Governor Alexander asked the 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 change the northern part of I-240 to be the rest of I-40; this added about 3.4 miles to the route. About four miles of a controlled-access highway was built within the I-240 loop east of the park before the cancellation; this part of highway was named Sam Cooper Boulevard in December 1986, and ends at East Parkway in the Binghampton neighborhood near the park. Right-of-way was also bought west of the park, and many buildings were torn down to make way for the Interstate; some of these empty lots have since had buildings put on them. When the route was canceled, about $280 million had been set aside by the federal government for its building; these funds were then used for other transportation improvements in the Memphis metropolitan area.

I-40 goes through the Jefferson Street community in western Nashville, a mainly Black neighborhood that had three historically Black colleges and was home to many African American people in the early-to-mid-20th century. Planners thought about putting this section near Vanderbilt University, but chose the current path by the mid-1950s. Before building began, many people believed that the Interstate would hurt their neighborhood's economy and separate it from the rest of the city. Some also believed that the path was an act of racial discrimination, and said the state did not tell people clearly about its plans. In October 1967, some residents of Jefferson Street formed the I-40 Steering Committee and filed a lawsuit against the state in the US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee hoping to force a new route for the Interstate. Judge Frank Gray Jr. ruled against the group on November 2, saying that there was no feasible other route. Gray said, however, that the ways the state told people about the project were not good and the route would badly affect their community. The group appealed the decision to the Sixth Circuit, which unanimously agreed with the lower court on December 18; and to the Supreme Court, which chose not to hear the case on January 29, 1968. Building I-40 through Jefferson Street caused many Black people to move to the Bordeaux area of North Nashville, and led to the expected economic problems in the neighborhood.

Major projects and expansions

Memphis projects

The first high-occupancy vehicle lanes in the Memphis area opened on September 15, 1997, on the 7.5-mile 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 made both interchanges with I-240 too small for the unexpected traffic patterns, needing them to be rebuilt; both interchanges also had ramps with sharp, dangerous curves. The eastern interchange was rebuilt with two projects. The first, which began in January 2001 and finished in October 2003, built 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 rebuilt in preparation for the second project, and the interchanges with US 64/70/79 (Summer Avenue) and White Station Road were changed.

The second project, originally set to start in January 2004, was delayed until October 2013 because of money and design problems. 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 changed to the exit ramp for Summer Avenue, and was replaced with a two-lane overpass connecting to the overpass built in 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 needed a new 14-lane bridge over the Wolf River, widened the approach on I-240 south of the interchange, added extra lanes to Sam Cooper Boulevard, and changed the SR 204 (Covington Pike) interchange. It cost $109.3 million, the most expensive contract in state history at the time, and finished on December 15, 2016.

The interchange with the western end of I-240 near midtown Memphis was rebuilt between June 2003 and December 2006. This project changed the interchange into a directional T configuration, which needed the tearing down of several unused ramps and bridges that had been built expecting I-40 to continue east of the interchange. The nearby cloverleaf interchange with SR 14 (Jackson Avenue) was changed to a partial cloverleaf interchange, and several extra auxiliary lanes and slip ramps were built. The northern merge point between I-40 and I-240 was moved north of the SR 14 interchange.

Nashville area

In November 1977, TDOT put in a system to find tailgating vehicles in the westbound lanes of the part where I-40 and I-24 are together: sensors put in the road which were linked to overhead warning signs with flashing lights and horns. The system (the first of its kind in the country) had technical problems, was said to be ineffective, and was taken out in July 1980. This part of I-40 was made wider from six to eight lanes between July 1979 and January 1980 by taking away the right shoulders, making the lanes one foot narrower, and moving traffic slightly to the left.

The short part of I-40 from east of the split with I-24/I-440 and east of SR 255 (Donelson Pike) in eastern Nashville was made wider to six lanes from August 1986 to December 1987. From October 1987 to November 1989, the 4.7-mile part from east of SR 255 to east of SR 45 was made wider from four to eight lanes. West of downtown Nashville, the three-mile section between SR 155 (Briley Parkway/White Bridge Road) and US 70 (Charlotte Pike) was made larger to six lanes from February 1988 to December 1989. From April 1991 to December 1992, the 5.9-mile section in Bellevue linking US 70 and US 70S was made wider to six lanes.

The first HOV lanes on I-40 in Tennessee opened to traffic on November 14, 1996, with the completion of a project which made the eight-mile section between west of SR 45 (Old Hickory Boulevard) in eastern Nashville and east of SR 171 in Mount Juliet wider 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 let police enforcement from the left shoulder. The short stretch between SR 155 (Briley Parkway/White Bridge Road) and the western end of I-440 was changed from November 2002 to July 2005; it was made wider to eight through lanes, extra auxiliary lanes were added, access to local roads was made better and wider, and two overpasses gave partial control to the southern end of Briley Parkway. The second part (from July 2009 to August 2011) built an overpass between I-40 and Briley Parkway, changing the interchange to full control, changed the White Bridge Road interchange, and widened a short part of I-40 west of the interchange.

A project from January 2004 to January 2007 made the three-mile section connecting I-24/440 to SR 255 wider from six to eight through lanes, added auxiliary lanes between interchanges, and rebuilt the interchange with SR 155 (Briley Parkway) for control. Work to widen six miles 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 finished in July 2014. The four-mile stretch from east of SR 109 to east of I-840 in Lebanon was made wider from four to eight lanes between April 2019 and September 2021.

Knoxville projects

Starting in early May 1980, the part of I-40 in Knoxville between Papermill Road and Gay Street was changed in a project which changed the interchanges with 17th Street, Western Avenue, and Gay Street; made the section wider to a least six through lanes; added roads next to the highway; and rebuilt the crowded cloverleaf interchange with I-75 known as "Malfunction Junction" into a stack interchange with overpasses. The non-contiguous part between US 11W (Rutledge Pike) and US 11E/25W/70 (Asheville Highway) was also made wider to six lanes. Work finished on March 30, 1982, with a ceremony led by Governor Alexander. While these projects were happening, the part of I-75 on this section was moved around the western leg of I-640 (done in December 1980) and the short part of I-75 north of this section became I-275. These projects were part of a $250 million multi-phase improvement plan for area roads which was sped up to get ready for the 1982 World's Fair. They were followed by making I-40 wider to six lanes between Broadway and US 11W from July 1990 to October 1991.

By the mid-1970s, the part of I-40 with I-75 between Lenoir City and western Knoxville was very busy. The FHWA allowed TDOT in 1978 to make the section from the I-75 interchange near Lenoir City to the Pellissippi Parkway wider to six lanes and the section from the Pellissippi Parkway to I-640 wider to eight lanes, and to rebuild interchanges along this section. TDOT said it would start the project in May 1981, at first choosing to widen the whole section to six lanes because of the need for quick traffic relief and the extra land needed for the larger project. The six-lane project started in July 1984 with the section between Papermill Road and the Pellissippi Parkway, and finished in December 1985. The rest of the project, between the Pellissippi Parkway and the I-75 split, was done from June 1985 to July 1986.

On October 9, 1986, the FHWA approved an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the rest of the I-40/I-75 improvement project. The first phase, from August 1990 to August 1994, made the section from east of the Pellissippi Parkway to east of Cedar Bluff Road wider and rebuilt the Cedar Bluff Road interchange. To get ready for the second phase, Gallaher View Road was made longer north to the Interstate between April 1994 and July 1996 with a new overpass and on-ramp. The second phase, from May 1996 to December 1999, made the section from east of Cedar Bluff Road to east of Gallaher View Road wider and made Bridgewater Road longer to the Interstate. The Walker Springs Road interchange was rebuilt, giving access to all three roads using collector–distributor roads. The third phase, from early 2000 to late 2002, made the section from Papermill Road to I-640 wider to 10 lanes. The fourth phase, from September 2000 to July 2003, improved the interchange with SR 131 and made the section wider to the Pellissippi Parkway. The last phase, from January 2003 to December 2006, made the section between Gallaher View Road and Papermill Road wider and changed the interchanges with the US 11/70 connector and Papermill Road. A collector–distributor center for the westbound ramps was built along the Papermill interchange, and ramps to Weisgarber Road and SR 332 were built.

In 1989, TDOT began planning to widen the four-lane section from east of I-275 to Broadway/Hall of Fame Drive, and rebuild the accident-prone interchange with SR 158 (James White Parkway), which had left-hand entrance and exit ramps. Planning began in 1995, and the FHWA approved an EIS for the project on February 28, 2002. On June 14, 2004, the two-phase project was shown to the public with the name SmartFIX40. The first phase, from July 6, 2005, to September 21, 2007, rebuilt and changed the interchanges with SR 158, Broadway/Hall of Fame Drive, and Cherry Street; and built collector–distributor ramps between these interchanges. For the second phase, I-40 between SR 158 and Broadway/Hall of Fame Drive was closed between May 1, 2008, and June 12, 2009. This let workers widen this section to six lanes with extra auxiliary lanes and rebuild the SR 158 interchange faster. Traffic used I-640 or surface roads during the closing, and the ramps connecting I-40 and I-640 at both interchanges were temporarily made wider to three lanes to handle the extra cars. Both phases of SmartFIX40 got an America's Transportation Award from the AASHTO in 2008 and 2010. At a cost of $203.7 million, SmartFIX40 was the largest project ever managed by TDOT at the time and the second of its kind in the US.

Other projects

Between July 1997 and November 1999, the six-mile section from US 25W/70 to I-81 in Jefferson County was made wider to six lanes. A 2008 TDOT study of the I-40 and I-81 roads found a number of steep hills that were hard for trucks to climb, causing traffic problems and safety risks, and the department built truck lanes up the hills along the road in answer. In 2018, three westbound truck lanes – a two-mile-long lane just west of the Tennessee River in Benton County, a two-mile lane in Humphreys and Hickman counties, and a one-mile lane east of Crossville – were finished. Two more projects, a four-mile lane in Dickson and Williamson counties and a three-mile lane in western Smith County (both eastbound), were finished the next year. In 2020, a truck lane was built on a two-mile eastbound part in eastern Cumberland County.

In Jackson, I-40 was made wider to six lanes and interchanges were improved in three phases. The first phase, which began on October 2, 2017, made I-40 wider between west of US 45 Byp. and east of US 45, a distance of about 2.9 miles; added auxiliary lanes between these interchanges and the interchange with US 412; changed the cloverleaf interchange with the US 45 Byp. into a partial cloverleaf interchange and the cloverleaf with US 70 into a single-point urban interchange (SPUI); and replaced bridges and improved intersections on both routes near the interchanges. The first phase finished in early July 2021. The second phase, which began on November 4, 2020, made I-40 wider from east of US 45 to east of US 70/412, a distance of about 5.5 miles, added auxiliary lanes, and replaced bridges. It finished on November 7, 2022. The last phase, which began on July 10, 2022, and finished early on December 13, 2023, made the 1.2-mile section from west of US 412 to west of US 45 Byp. wider.

Geological difficulties

East Tennessee's rough land gave problems to I-40 building teams and engineers. Rockslides, especially along the eastern Cumberland Plateau and in the Pigeon River gorge, have been a continuing problem during and after the road was built.

Crab Orchard and Walden Ridge area

On December 17, 1986, a truck driver died when his truck hit a rock that had fallen across the road just east of Crab Orchard. In answer, between January 1987 and December 1988, workers made the cuts along this part of the Interstate flatter and moved a 1,000-foot part of the road 60 feet from the problematic cliff.

While I-40 was being built, 20 rockslides happened along the Walden Ridge part (miles 341–346) of the eastern plateau in 1968. This led to fixing measures through the 1970s, including rock supports, wire mesh walls, and horizontal drains. Small rockslides shut down the westbound lanes of this section on June 20, 1989, and on May 6, 2013.

Pigeon River gorge

The Pigeon River gorge is likely to have rockslides, especially near the Tennessee–North Carolina border. This part of I-40 was closed many times by rockslides in the 1970s, sometimes for weeks. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, workers dug over 24,000 feet of horizontal drains, blew up a lot of unstable rock, and put up wire mesh fences to catch rocks. But rockslides in 1985 and 1997 again closed I-40 in the Pigeon River gorge for several weeks. More fixing measures were done, including blowing up loose rock, putting in rock pins, and improving drainage. Another rockslide in the gorge on October 26, 2009, blocked all lanes just across the border at North Carolina mile 3; the section was closed to traffic both ways until April 25, 2010. On January 31, 2012, the westbound lanes of I-40 were closed for a few weeks because of a rockslide near the North Carolina border. Heavy rain from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene washed away a small part of the eastbound edge and support near the state line on September 27, 2024, closing the road to all traffic.

Sinkholes

Sinkholes are a continuing problem along highways in East Tennessee. One especially hard part is a section of I-40 between miles 365 and 367 in Loudon County, which has caves under the rock. TDOT used many fixing measures in this area during the 1970s and 1980s, including filling existing sinkholes with limestone, collapsing possible sinkholes, and paving roadside ditches to stop surface water from going into unstable ground.

Incidents and closures

On December 23, 1988, a tanker truck carrying liquified propane turned over on a one-lane ramp taking I-40 traffic through the Midtown interchange with I-240 in Memphis, making a small hole in the front of the tank. The leaking gas caught fire in a boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE), making a ball of fire that set nearby cars and buildings on fire and killed five drivers right away (including the truck driver). The tank was thrown from the crash by the remaining burning gas, hitting a nearby overpass and crashing into a duplex apartment about 125 yards away. One person was killed, and fires spread to other houses. Seven more cars were destroyed, and 10 cars, six houses, and a housing complex were damaged. Ten people were hurt, and two people inside homes hit by the fires later died from their injuries. Another truck driver died when he crashed into a traffic jam from the accident. This event, one of Tennessee's worst and most damaging vehicle accidents, led to the eventual rebuilding of the interchange.

Inspectors found a crack on a support beam of the Hernando de Soto Bridge on May 11, 2021, closing the bridge. A later check showed that the crack had been there since at least May 2019, and reports said it might have been there since August 2016. TDOT gave an emergency repair contract for the bridge on May 17, 2021, and the repair was done in two steps. In the first step, finished on May 25, 2021, steel plates were added to both sides of the broken beam. The second step was adding more steel plates and taking out part of the damaged beam. The bridge's eastbound lanes opened on July 31, 2021, and the westbound lanes opened two days later. A report released later that year said the crack came from a welding mistake when the beam was made.

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