Interstate 55 in Tennessee
Interstate Highway in Tennessee, United States / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Interstate 55 (I-55) is part of the Interstate Highway System that runs from LaPlace, Louisiana, to Chicago, Illinois. In the state of Tennessee, the Interstate is located entirely within the state's second-largest city of Memphis, running 12.28 miles (19.76 km) from the Mississippi state line in the Whitehaven neighborhood to the Arkansas border across the Mississippi River. Of the six states that the Interstate passes through, the segment in Tennessee is the shortest, as well as the shortest mainline Interstate segment in Tennessee. I-55 serves a number of neighborhoods and industrial areas in the southwestern portion of Memphis, and also provides access to the Memphis International Airport, the second-busiest cargo airport in the world.
Bishop J. O. Patterson Sr. Memorial Parkway W.B. Fowler Sr. Expressway | ||||
Route information | ||||
Maintained by TDOT | ||||
Length | 12.28 mi[1] (19.76 km) | |||
Existed | August 14, 1957[2]–present | |||
History | Completed April 20, 1967[3] | |||
NHS | Entire route | |||
Major junctions | ||||
South end | I-55 / I-69 at the Mississippi state line | |||
Major intersections | US 51 in Memphis I-240 in Memphis US 61 / US 64 / US 70 / US 78 / US 79 in Memphis | |||
North end | I-55 / US 61 / US 64 / US 70 / US 78 / US 79 at Arkansas state line | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | Tennessee | |||
Counties | Shelby | |||
Highway system | ||||
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I-55 is known as the Bishop J. O. Patterson Sr. Memorial Parkway and the W.B. Fowler Sr. Expressway in Tennessee. The Interstate utilizes the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge across the Mississippi River. Completed in 1949, this is the oldest bridge on the Interstate Highway System in Tennessee and the oldest bridge on I-55. The remainder of the route was constructed between 1958 and 1967, making it the first mainline Interstate Highway in Tennessee to be completed. The route also had an auxiliary Interstate, I-255, which was renumbered as an extension of I-240 in 1973. Since its construction, the Interstate has seen a number of expansion and improvement projects, with additional ones planned for the future.