Interstate 22

[mwb1848]

It's interesting that AL.com committed the state of Tennessee to extending I-22 to I-40 and/or I-240 in Memphis.

I think what they meant is the Memphis metro area.  I'm sure that many people are aware that as of right now I-22 will end in DeSoto County, Mississippi.

From AL.com: "I-22, when completed, is an Interstate Highway that will follow the U.S. 78  corridor  (Corridor X) on a 213-mile-long route from Memphis, Tennessee, to Birmingham, Alabama. I-22 will connect I-240 and I-40  in the northwest with I-65  in the southeast."

[Grzrd]

FHWA's position is that I-22 is the Congessionally mandated designation for High Priority Corridor 45:

45.The United States Route 78 Corridor from Memphis, Tennessee, to Corridor X of the Appalachian Development Highway System near Fulton, Mississippi, and Corridor X of the Appalachian Development Highway System extending from near Fulton, Mississippi, to near Birmingham, Alabama. [I-22]

How strict will FHWA's interpretation of the language be with the mandate of "the United States Route 78 Corridor from Memphis, Tennessee ..."?  Would a terminus along US 78 at I-269 suffice? ....
I recently emailed MDOT ...

A: MDOT's current plan is to sign the entire length of US 78 as I-22.

A closer comparison may be with Laredo and I-69. High Priority Corridor 20 requires:

20.United States Route 59 Corridor from Laredo, Texas, through Houston, Texas, to the vicinity of Texarkana, Texas. [I-69]

If I interpret Google Maps correctly, the current US 59/Loop 20 interchange is within Laredo's city limits, which would comply with the statute (at the other end, an interchange with I-30 near the TexAmericas Center (located in New Boston, west of the Texarkana city limits) may have already been contemplated as reflected by the language "to the vicinity of Texarkana").  OTOH it looks like a new connector from Loop 20 to US 59 outside of the city limits would make sense, and by a common-sense standard would be an exception that would comply with the "United States Route 59 Corridor from Laredo" requirement.
Am I nitpicking? Probably. However, FHWA might nitpick, too.

Corridor 45 is defined as the "US 78 Corridor," which is distinct from "US 78." Both I-269 + I-55, or I-269 alone, would be within the "US 78 Corridor" and connect US 78 with Memphis, Tennessee

The TTC has posted the video from its February 27 meeting and in Item 5 (approximately five minutes in length), it is explained that the redesignation of Loop 20 as US 59 was "necessary" for Loop 20/US 59 to ultimately be designated as part of "the I-69 system".

(bottom quote from I-69 in TX thread)

Maybe FHWA is nitpicking.  In reading the recent discussion in the Interstate 269 thread about the western terminus of I-22, the recent redesignation of Loop 20 as US 59 in Laredo came to mind.  It appears that FHWA required that Loop 20 be redesignated as US 59 in order to meet FHWA's interpretation of the "United States Route 59 Corridor" statutory language as US 59 itself being a prerequisite for an I-69 designation.  With that in mind, absent a redesignation of US 78 to run concurrently with I-269, it appears that FHWA would not interpret I-269 as comprising part of the "United States Route 78 Corridor".

I don't think Tennessee would agree to have US 78 decommissioned from the Lamar Corridor.  With all of the foregoing in mind, I think FHWA will require MDOT in the near future to sign US 78 as I-22 all of the way to the Tennessee state line in order to meet the Congressional mandate (Congressional mandates trump both FHWA rules and common sense).

MAP-21 has language regarding the importance of "aerotropolises".  Since Memphis fancies its airport as "America's Aerotropolis", I think that, since interstate-grade improvements from the state line to the airport are feasible and for the most part already planned, the airport may eventually become the I-22 western "logical terminus" with some refinement to the MAP-21 "aerotropolis" language.

Lamar from the airport to I-240 will probably remain US 78 (maybe an I-22 business green shield?).

[WashuOtaku]

Lamar from the airport to I-240 will probably remain US 78 (maybe an I-22 business green shield?).

I am not familiar with any current or former Interstate Business routes in Tennessee, so I doubt that would happen. 

[codyg1985]

I could see TDOT MAYBE putting up TO I-22 trailblazers and possibly on BGS's at I-240 at either US 78 or I-55, depending on where the terminus of I-22 is. I highly doubt there will be a business spur of I-22 along US 78.

I just don't see TDOT spending that amount of money on the corridor when there are other pressing needs not only in the Memphis area, but also across the state, especially Nashville.

[codyg1985]

Here is a presentation given at the Alabama Transportation Conference in Auburn, AL that goes into some of the issues that have come up during construction of the I-22/65 interchange. After looking at this, I wouldn't be surprised if it takes another year from this October to finish everything up.

[BamaZeus]

It sounds like the contractor is screwing it up royally.  Misaligned beams, poor surveying, lack of supplies on hand.  It's embarrassing, really.  Just this very last sentence in the slideshow sums it up:

"Issues  With  Improved  Roadbed  Material   
Lack  of  suitable  material  for  use  as  Improved  Roadbed.    Due  to  the  amount  of  rock  and  contractor  not  stockpiling  enough  of  the  on  site  material  to  perform  roadbed  processing  operations"

[Gnutella]

Even with the screw-ups, the I-22/I-65 interchange will still be finished faster than the Pennsylvania Turnpike/I-95 interchange.

[msunat97]

Embarrassing work by the contractor.

[J N Winkler]

It was also interesting to observe how circumspect the presentation is in describing the problems; I think there is a good chance that the contractor and Alabama DOT will find themselves in litigation over who should pay for the added remediation work.

[roadman65]

Even with the screw-ups, the I-22/I-65 interchange will still be finished faster than the Pennsylvania Turnpike/I-95 interchange.

Ditto.  I also think that I-74 in North Carolina will be completed before I-95 & I-276 will be done.

[NE2]

I-74 in NC will never be "completed".

[Gnutella]

Even with the screw-ups, the I-22/I-65 interchange will still be finished faster than the Pennsylvania Turnpike/I-95 interchange.

Ditto.  I also think that I-74 in North Carolina will be completed before I-95 & I-276 will be done.

Of course, it's New Jersey's fault that I-95 has a missing link in the first place.

I-74 in NC will never be "completed".

Good news is, I-36 between Asheville and Wilmington will be someday.

[WashuOtaku]

Good news is, I-36 between Asheville and Wilmington will be someday.

Someone wishing for a new interstate, that there are no plans for.  Also, if it was theoretically constructed, it would end at Columbus, not Asheville. 

[NE2]

Also, if it was theoretically constructed, it would end at Columbus, not Asheville. 

Unless it goes through the Bat Cave.

[agentsteel53]

Someone wishing for a new interstate, that there are no plans for.  Also, if it was theoretically constructed, it would end at Columbus, not Asheville. 

... so it can be in the same state as US-36?  is this North Carolina's revenge for having I-74 forced upon them?

[WashuOtaku]

Unless it goes through the Bat Cave.

Who wouldn't want to go to the Bat Cave.   

[WashuOtaku]

Someone wishing for a new interstate, that there are no plans for.  Also, if it was theoretically constructed, it would end at Columbus, not Asheville. 

... so it can be in the same state as US-36?  is this North Carolina's revenge for having I-74 forced upon them?

Sorry, Columbus, North Carolina, not Ohio.  I-26 meets US 74 just west of the city.  The idea is if they create a new interstate along US 74 in North Carolina, can simply decom US 74.  Theoretically, they could continue west to Cleveland, Tennessee, but why...

Sorry... we seem to have gone off topic.

[froggie]

The idea is if they create a new interstate along US 74 in North Carolina, can simply decom US 74.

Problem there is there are two independent (non-multiplexed) sections of US 74 along the Great Smokey Mountain Expressway.  In particular, just south of I-40, and southwest of Cherokee (between US 441 and US 19).

[mwb1848]

FWIW: Here's an AP brief that ran recently in the Oxford Eagle.

[hbelkins]

The idea is if they create a new interstate along US 74 in North Carolina, can simply decom US 74.

Problem there is there are two independent (non-multiplexed) sections of US 74 along the Great Smokey Mountain Expressway.  In particular, just south of I-40, and southwest of Cherokee (between US 441 and US 19).

That one segment replaced Alternate US 19, but I can't remember what the other segment was before it became US 74.

[WashuOtaku]

The idea is if they create a new interstate along US 74 in North Carolina, can simply decom US 74.

Problem there is there are two independent (non-multiplexed) sections of US 74 along the Great Smokey Mountain Expressway.  In particular, just south of I-40, and southwest of Cherokee (between US 441 and US 19).

That one segment replaced Alternate US 19, but I can't remember what the other segment was before it became US 74.

Between 1962-1971, that section (and a completed part of what is now I-40, north of Canton) was US 23A.  When I-40 was completed at that area, it was decommissioned, while the connector at Clyde went unsigned (unsure if dropped to secondary road status or not) before becoming part of US 74.  However, we kind of went off topic here again. 

[Henry]

FWIW: Here's an AP brief that ran recently in the Oxford Eagle.

Nice, but what will become of the highway that has yet to be constructed near Memphis?

[Charles2]

US 78 in Tennessee is duplexed for the entirety of its routing in the Volunteer State with TN-4, although it is sporadically, if at all, signed.  That could be the solution, though.

[RoadWarrior56]

Unless US 78 is officially decommissioned as part of the I-22 launch, I would not be surprised to see US 78 silently duplexed for all or most of I-22, with 78 suddenly reappearing at or near the Tennessee state line and heading into Memphis as it always has.

[codyg1985]

Unless US 78 is officially decommissioned as part of the I-22 launch, I would not be surprised to see US 78 silently duplexed for all or most of I-22, with 78 suddenly reappearing at or near the Tennessee state line and heading into Memphis as it always has.

I think that is what will most likely happen, especially in Alabama.