TN Route 840 is set to open in November this year!

[jpi]

From WSMV.com-
State Route 840 to be completed in November
Posted: Aug 01, 2012 1:48 PM CDT Updated: Aug 01, 2012 2:03 PM CDT
FRANKLIN, Tenn. (AP) - Tennessee's top transportation official says that a road construction project that has been on the books since 1986 will finally be completed in November after years of construction and environmental delays.

John Schroer, the commissioner of the state Department of Transportation, said on Tuesday that the final 14 miles of State Route 840 will be open to the public on Nov. 2 and will complete a 78-mile southern loop around Nashville that runs through Williamson, Rutherford and Wilson counties.

The Tennessean reports that before the public opening, bicyclists will be invited to traverse the last section of the roadway on Oct. 13.

Concerns over the road's environmental impact particularly in Williamson County prompted lawsuits that delayed construction for years.



This was the focus of our Nashville Roadmeet nearly 2 years ago.  Also Cody Goodman and I have been monitering the progress of the last phases of construction on this in southern Williamson County. This will make a big impact on travellers on I-40 going east and west and will be a MUCH needed by-pass of Nashville. I live about 4 miles away from where 840 meets I-40 in Lebanon.

Jason Ilyes
JPI
Lebanon, TN
Home of the Barrel

[Alps]

Hm... coincides with the Richmond meet...

[codyg1985]

Sounds like a good birthday present for me.

[Beltway]

Now they can designate it as I-840 ... correct?

It is an I-40 outer bypass of Nashville, so an even digit I-x40 would be appropriate.

[codyg1985]

Now they can designate it as I-840 ... correct?

It is an I-40 outer bypass of Nashville, so an even digit I-x40 would be appropriate.

I-840 is the only even I-x40 left in Tennessee. I do wonder if TN will pursue I-840 next year. Seems logical to me.

[NYYPhil777]

Now they can designate it as I-840 ... correct?

It is an I-40 outer bypass of Nashville, so an even digit I-x40 would be appropriate.

I-840 is the only even I-x40 left in Tennessee. I do wonder if TN will pursue I-840 next year. Seems logical to me.

Local rumor in Nashville has it that Tennessee's DOT is calling 840 a state route because they wanted to skip having to do any of the in-depth environmental studies that building the highway and calling it Interstate 840 would require. Apparently, they thought that having to conduct those studies would kill off the freeway. Yet almost everyone in Nashville calls it I-840.

I've driven the road a couple of times in the past, and it's a decent road. I just wish the northern half could be built.

Happy Roadgeeking,
NYYPhil777

[Road Hog]

I'm already stoked about my next trip out that way. It may trim a full hour off my drive.

[Alps]

Now they can designate it as I-840 ... correct?

It is an I-40 outer bypass of Nashville, so an even digit I-x40 would be appropriate.

I-840 is the only even I-x40 left in Tennessee. I do wonder if TN will pursue I-840 next year. Seems logical to me.

Local rumor in Nashville has it that Tennessee's DOT is calling 840 a state route because they wanted to skip having to do any of the in-depth environmental studies that building the highway and calling it Interstate 840 would require. Apparently, they thought that having to conduct those studies would kill off the freeway. Yet almost everyone in Nashville calls it I-840.

There's a process where they could finish building the freeway and then apply to the FHWA, as long as it is fully up to I- standards. Maybe they would go that route?

[NYYPhil777]

Now they can designate it as I-840 ... correct?

It is an I-40 outer bypass of Nashville, so an even digit I-x40 would be appropriate.

I-840 is the only even I-x40 left in Tennessee. I do wonder if TN will pursue I-840 next year. Seems logical to me.

Local rumor in Nashville has it that Tennessee's DOT is calling 840 a state route because they wanted to skip having to do any of the in-depth environmental studies that building the highway and calling it Interstate 840 would require. Apparently, they thought that having to conduct those studies would kill off the freeway. Yet almost everyone in Nashville calls it I-840.

There's a process where they could finish building the freeway and then apply to the FHWA, as long as it is fully up to I- standards. Maybe they would go that route?

I'm not completely sure about TennDOT going that route. IMHO, I'm feeling 20/80 about that. (20% it'll happen, 80% it won't.)
If you look at the Wikipedia page for Tennessee Route 840, the map also shows the proposed northern arc. When I first looked at it, it looked like it was going into Kentucky a little bit. Though that's not true of course, if it was true, then it would have to be called Interstate 840.
That process that TennDOT could submit as an application to the FHWA is a full EIS. However, on most of the 840, TennDOT only performed EAs.
Any TennDOT spokesperson advocating the northern part of 840 nowadays will have to overcome heavy local opposition in those northern counties 840 would traverse through.
I find it funny how 840 surrounds Nashville so that the primary interstates (24, 40, 65) do their job as the highways people use to get to Downtown Nashville.
IMO, Tenn-840 is like how Georgia's DOT really wanted a northern loop for Atlanta (proposed Georgia Route 500), only 840 (south that is) succeeded.

Happy Roadgeeking,
NYYPhil777

[hbelkins]

It wouldn't have had to be I-840 had it gone into Kentucky. It could have been KY 840 or any other route number. However, Kentucky paying good money to build a bypass for Nashville would be foolish.

Tennessee built I-26 as US 23 and got the interstate number later. No reason they couldn't do the same for TN 840.

[NYYPhil777]

It wouldn't have had to be I-840 had it gone into Kentucky. It could have been KY 840 or any other route number. However, Kentucky paying good money to build a bypass for Nashville would be foolish.

Tennessee built I-26 as US 23 and got the interstate number later. No reason they couldn't do the same for TN 840.

Very true. I guess I didn't think it could be KY 840. The closest numbered route to 840 in Kentucky is 841, after all.
I wholeheartedly agree with you saying that Kentucky paying for a freeway that serves a bordering state's capital (which doesn't even go into the downtown Nashville and urban suburbs area) is foolish.
All I was trying to say was that when I first looked at the map on the Wikipedia page, it looked like it would go into Kentucky. (that's if the northern arc of 840 will ever get built!)
I'll take a break off of this thread, I believe I've done enough posting on this thread.

Happy Roadgeeking,
NYYPhil777

[jpi]

As for the northern arc of 840, that got put on hold "indefinently" by Bredeson not long after I moved down here from PA. Alot of that funding has gone to the ongoing 4-laneing of TN 109 from near my house in Lebanon up to KY with a direct exit in the works with I-65 just a stones throw away from the KY state line. Also work on TN 141 (Hartsville Pike) is getting some of that funding too in order to make it an improved 2 lane on 4 lane right of way from Lebanon to Hartsville and eventually to Lafayette.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Why can't we designate I-22*, I-69*, I-64, I-75, and I-59 as a loop around Nashville. 
(* whenever they get completed)

[hbelkins]

Why can't we designate I-22*, I-69*, I-64, I-75, and I-59 as a loop around Nashville. 
(* whenever they get completed)

How many bypasses would Nashville have then?

[NYYPhil777]

Why can't we designate I-22*, I-69*, I-64, I-75, and I-59 as a loop around Nashville. 
(* whenever they get completed)

How many bypasses would Nashville have then?

I-22's westbound terminus is in Memphis at soon-to-be-completed I-269 (or I-40/55/240), and its eastbound terminus is in Birmingham at I-65. So I-22 is out of the question.
(unless an interstate can be designated on the Natchez Trace- I recommend for that I-322  )
I-69 would follow US 51, which also goes through Memphis. So I-69 is also out of the question.
I-64 is north of Nashville by going through Louisville. So I could leave out I-64.
I-75 is east of Nashville (it goes through Knoxville), so I-75 won't work.
And finally, I-59 starts at I-24 in Georgia and goes towards Birmingham and New Orleans. That can't work at all.
I highly doubt the Natchez Trace could be made an interstate (a lot of locals will be greatly upset and unique terrains will be destroyed), but if so, once again, I would bill it as I-322 (from I-22 in Tupelo to Tenn-840 between I-40 and I-65  ).

[hbelkins]

Why can't we designate I-22*, I-69*, I-64, I-75, and I-59 as a loop around Nashville. 
(* whenever they get completed)

How many bypasses would Nashville have then?

My comment was a joke about an event that predates your time here. 

[mightyace]

This was the focus of our Nashville Roadmeet nearly 2 years ago.  Also Cody Goodman and I have been monitering the progress of the last phases of construction on this in southern Williamson County. This will make a big impact on travellers on I-40 going east and west and will be a MUCH needed by-pass of Nashville. I live about 4 miles away from where 840 meets I-40 in Lebanon.

Jason Ilyes
JPI
Lebanon, TN
Home of the Barrel

As I live only about 4 miles from the future 840/246 interchange, I have been following it as well. (hence my avatar)  I took a fair number of pictures 2 or 3 weeks ago but, as usual, I've had too many other things going on to post them.

But, yes, they are paving that final stretch.

It will help me a lot as I will be able to get to I-65 without going into Spring Hill or the outskirts of Columbia.  Also, travel time to Dickson and west (Memphis) should be decreased by 20-30 minutes.

[mightyace]

Signs are going up at the 840/TN 246 (Carter's Creek Pike) exit.  840 trailblazer signs are there but turned sideways.

[jpi]

HMMM, may have to check that out at some pint tin the next couple weeks.