I-240/Airways interchange reconstruction in Memphis

[lordsutch]

I stumbled across the public notice for this project in yesterday's Commercial Appeal:

http://www.tn.gov/tdot/event/shelby-county-public-meeting-on-i-240-interchange-at-airways-boulevard

The existing cloverleaf-ish design is proposed to be replaced with a SPUI, with a flyover from I-240 west to southbound Plough Blvd, and Airways traffic headed for the airport will be split north of the interchange, effectively making a freeway-to-freeway connection southbound. Northbound however the direct ramp to 240 west is eliminated, so the full freeway-to-freeway connection northbound is going away. It's hard to tell from the map but it looks like the current high-speed ramp to 240 east will remain but only with access from Democrat Road apparently. I-240 will have four lanes westbound but only three eastbound through the interchange.

Bike lanes will be added as well on Airways. Essentially the new interchange will be built in the existing wide median of I-240, which should help the construction staging a lot.

Overall it seems like a sensible design although I'd include provisions for a fourth eastbound lane on 240 too in the hopes that eventually the mess at Millbranch can be fixed to improve the merging from the I-55 interchange.