Tennessee

[I-55]

I-65 widening between TN 25 and TN 109 has completed

https://www.tn.gov/content/tn/tdot/news/2024/9/19/robertson-county-i-65-widening-project-completed-months-ahead-of-schedule.html

Robertson County I-65 Widening Project Completed Months Ahead of Schedule
Thursday, September 19, 2024 | 04:58pm
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) opened two new lanes on Interstate 65 in Robertson County seven months ahead of schedule.

With an original completion date of April 2025, crews opened two new lanes on I-65 in each direction this month thanks to hard work by contractor Jones Bros Construction. Along with the additional lanes from State Route 109 to State Route 25, other improvements include 10 new or widened bridges, four overpass replacements, 17 retaining walls, 11 new SmartWay cameras, and the repurposing of an abandoned northbound weigh station into a truck parking area. An updated southbound weigh station is currently in construction with new scales, a truck inspection station, and 36 additional parking spaces.

The next phase of I-65 improvements is slated to begin construction in the summer of 2025. When complete, motorists will enjoy an additional lane in each direction from Rivergate Parkway to State Route 41 in Sumner County. Improvements include the construction of eight retaining walls, upgrades to TDOT's SmartWay system, the replacement of four bridges, and the creation of a Diverging Diamond Interchange at US 31-W.

To celebrate the early completion of the project, TDOT held a ribbon-cutting ceremony this morning. TDOT leadership, House Majority Leader William Lamberth, Robertson County Mayor Billy Vogle, Sumner County Mayor John Isbell, and other state and local officials were in attendance.

For a link to download photos and video, visit https://bit.ly/47w0t4g.

[74/171FAN]

I noticed this signage while at a temporary signal on US 70N recently.  I saw it elsewhere so it seems to be a TN thing.  (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10221149269641856&set=a.10221149484207220)



And then on TN 249 south of Ashland City.



Also some Ashland City, TN, photos worth sharing while I am here (https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBKU38).

[epzik8]

The Weather Channel is not sugarcoating anything regarding the I-26 destruction from Helene.

[The Ghostbuster]

There are flood alerts on Google Maps in both Tennessee and North Carolina like this one: https://www.google.com/maps/@35.9558524,-83.1521064,10924m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTAwMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D; and this one: https://www.google.com/maps/@35.5458038,-82.6883315,43921m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTAwMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D. Google Maps has been known to pinpoint locations where natural disasters have occurred or are currently occurring. One other such example is when fires are raging within the continent of North America. They probably do this worldwide, although I haven't looked for any overseas.

[OracleUsr]

Thanks for the heads up ^^^^

https://goo.gl/maps/NHvJBZHkAxqhDZ8G7

https://goo.gl/maps/NXo7muAeErsrbF3G9

This here is awful. No mention of US 76 on the guide for Exit 1 on I-75.

I started going through Chattanooga in 1990 (I worked in Atlanta and sometimes met my parents in Knoxville) and I don't remember 76 ever being signed at the East Ridge interchange.  I had always assumed 76 ended at the state line as a result.

[OracleUsr]

I know back in the 1980s, downtown I-75 in Knoxville was redesignated as I-275 and then I-75 was rerouted to merge with I-640 on the west side until they both intersected with I-40.  Problem is for drivers going north on I-75, they have only *one* lane on the north split flyover ramp at the I-640/I-275/I-75 interchange. 

I personally think they should widen the I-75 NB flyover ramp to 2 lanes since it is part of the interstate now.  Either that or go back to the original designation of I-75 going straight downtown. Not really sure what the benefit was of that redesignation in the first place.

Thoughts?

The I-640 route is two miles shorter than the I-275 route, as well as removing through traffic from downtown.

I think that ramp should be two lanes, too. I was preparing to say that a more elaborate arrangement would be required for the weaving section on I-75 between the end of the ramp and the Merchant Drive exit, but maybe not, at least not right off. the ramp from westbound I-640 would have to merge into the newly-two-lane ramp rather than adding a lane of its own as it does now.

In an ideal world, there'd be an unTOTSO interchange with I-75 having its own curving mainline through the interchange, like this. That'll never happen, though.

The rerouting occurred when that particular stretch of 640 west of 75 opened in the very early 80's.  The 40/275 interchange was rebuilt from an ancient substandard cloverleaf to the current directional T plus extra ramps configuration in preparation for the 1982 World's Fair (which was the last time Knoxville was ever relevant for anything aside from UT winning the 1998 NCAA football championship).  However a couple of the flyovers leading to/from Henley St. weren't completed until the 90's, and were Evil Knieval ramps throughout the 80's.

I almost had my first wreck at that interchange, 1989, getting from 275 to I-40E. 

I remember 75 on that original route.  The present routing is far better.

[rickmastfan67]

Well, progress at getting 'some' of I-40 reopened, at least on the TN side.

The damaged TN segment between exits 447 & 451 is being converted to 2-way, and will reopen sometime next week.