Interstate 269

Interstate 269 (I-269) is a beltway around the city of Memphis, Tennessee and its adjacent suburban areas in southwestern Tennessee and northern Mississippi, completed in October 2018. I-269 was planned and built to serve as an outer bypass for the Memphis metropolitan area, funneling through traffic around the metro area while also functioning as a bypass of future Interstate 69 (I-69), which will run directly through the center of the metro area. I-269 currently connects to its parent route, I-69, at an interchange in Hernando, Mississippi, and will do so again in Millington, Tennessee, in the future.

Route description 
I-269 begins at an interchange with Interstate 69 near Hernando, Mississippi. The highway travels eastward across rural areas to the town of Byhalia, Mississippi,, where it has an interchange with I-22/US 78. Here, the highway continues northeastward, slowly veering north towards the Tennessee state line. Entering Tennessee, I-269 has an interchange with US 72 and the southern segment of TN 385 in Collierville. The route then proceeds north along former TN 385 to an interchange with I-40 and the northern segment of TN 385 in Arlington.

History

The first section of what is now I-269, the Winfield Dunn Parkway, from I-40 to US 64 opened on August 31, 2007, and signed as SR 385. It was extended to Macon Road in June 2009 and to SR 57 on November 22, 2013. The Bill Morris Parkway, most of which remains signed as SR 385, was opened between US 72 and SR 57 on August 31, 2007.

On January 29, 2007, the Federal Highway Administration issued a record of decision giving final federal approval for I-269, paving the way for the two states to design and construct the remaining section between Hernando and Collierville.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation's (TDOT) plans called for the two sections to be connected in phases. Plans had the portion extending south from an incomplete interchange with SR 385 south to the Mississippi state line to completed in October 2015 to coincide with completion of the section in Mississippi from the Tennessee state line to Mississippi Highway 302.

On October 18, 2007, the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) announced that a bond was successfully issued through the state's Highway Enhancements Through Local Partnerships (HELP) Program for $83 million to cover planning and right-of-way acquisition costs for Mississippi's portion of the route. Mississippi began its part of I-269 construction on June 23, 2011, with the  section from the state line to I-55 totaling construction costs of $640 million as of 2014. Completion of I-269 to Hernando, marking the completion of the entire beltway, was achieved in October of 2018. The construction costs of the Tennessee portion of SR 385 from the 1980s until completion in 2013 is over $500 million. Both states' combined investments are over $1.2 billion for the  I-269 project including construction and rights of way expense listed above.

On October 23, 2015, the first signed segment of I-269 opened between SR 385 and MS 302.

On December 5, 2017, the second segment opened between MS 302 and MS 305, including the I-22 interchange.

In 2018 TDOT redesignated a portion of SR 385 between Collierville and I-40 in Arlington as I-269.

The segment of I-269 from the I-55/I-69 interchange in Hernando to MS 305 at Lewisburg, Mississippi, was completed on October 26, 2018, completing the connection between Interstate 40 in Tennessee and Interstate 55 in Mississippi.

Exit list

See also

References

External links

 Design Public Hearing Announcement (Tennessee Department of Transportation)
 Original and current plans (Mississippi Department of Transportation)
 Kurumi.com entry
 I69Info.com: Memphis
 Interstate-Guide.com (I-269)
 Desoto Times

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Category:Transportation in DeSoto County, Mississippi
Category:Transportation in Shelby County, Tennessee
Category:Memphis metropolitan area