I-69 in TN

[abqtraveler]

IH 69 will NOT Be completed in Tennessee and Arkansas in the next 35 years, Bank On It! Federal money will be allocated to addressing the Traffic issues in NashVegas and Chattlanta, Respectively. Driving on 24 between NashVegas and Chattlanta, is hell on weekends!

I think your point that Tennessee spends most of its money east of the Tennessee River may have gotten lost in your symbiosis of cities in Eastern Tennessee and Northern Georgia. These boards used to have the Memphis region coupled with the MidSouth. This thread from last year touches on this a lot.

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=99.msg2938727#msg2938727

I agree with your summation that completion is unlikely in my lifetime in Arkansas particularly and even in Tennessee.

Unless there's a major political shift in Tennessee that focuses attention on the western part of the state (which I don't see happening anytime soon), they will get I-69 built to I-155 in Dyersburg and call it good.

[Anthony_JK]

Don't think so. Memphis would raise hell, and you'd have I-69 through traffic wanting to access Memphis either using the I-40 bridge to I-55 in West Memphis, using city streets, or US 51 south to I-240. Can't just bypass a major city like that, even one as dysfunctional as Memphis is right now.

[I-55]

Don't think so. Memphis would raise hell, and you'd have I-69 through traffic wanting to access Memphis either using the I-40 bridge to I-55 in West Memphis, using city streets, or US 51 south to I-240. Can't just bypass a major city like that, even one as dysfunctional as Memphis is right now.

Memphis might raise hell but Nashville ignores most of the hell Memphis brings now. As significant as completing I-69 to Memphis may be, their problem is bridges. TDOT already plans to work on one of them. Combine that with the Crump interchange and Lamar Ave improvements, Memphis is getting about as much attention as it will get, especially with the problems that plague the other 3 big metros in the state. Shelby Co. is getting 8 projects in TDOT's 10-year plan, compared to about 20 in the Nashville area, 7 in Chattanooga, and 10 in Knoxville. That's as good as Memphis is going to get unless the feds step in with at least 90 percent funding.

[Daniel Fiddler]

Don't think so. Memphis would raise hell, and you'd have I-69 through traffic wanting to access Memphis either using the I-40 bridge to I-55 in West Memphis, using city streets, or US 51 south to I-240. Can't just bypass a major city like that, even one as dysfunctional as Memphis is right now.

Memphis might raise hell but Nashville ignores most of the hell Memphis brings now. As significant as completing I-69 to Memphis may be, their problem is bridges. TDOT already plans to work on one of them. Combine that with the Crump interchange and Lamar Ave improvements, Memphis is getting about as much attention as it will get, especially with the problems that plague the other 3 big metros in the state. Shelby Co. is getting 8 projects in TDOT's 10-year plan, compared to about 20 in the Nashville area, 7 in Chattanooga, and 10 in Knoxville. That's as good as Memphis is going to get unless the feds step in with at least 90 percent funding.

I have no idea when the devil they will get around to the Memphis to Dyersburg segment if ever, although I will be temporarily content if they actually get the 8 mile gap completed near Troy.  Not that I ever travel there, but still.

And Memphis is shrinking while Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga are growing.  Nashville very rapidly.  Sure, Memphis deserves slightly more attention, although as much as I hate to say this living in Jackson, Tennessee does need to focus on Middle and East Tennessee more due to its growth.

Many of the Interstates being considered or constructed are not crucial, some not even needed.  There are exceptions to the rule however.  Personally, south of Memphis, I'd rather have seen them build I-69 from Houston to Texarkana rather than to Shreveport, El Dorado, Clarksdale, and finally Memphis.  Much cheaper, and the planned route doesn't serve much population, while Texas is BOOMING!  Fastest states growing right now, by percentage, are (1) Texas, (2) Florida, (3) Tennessee, (4) North Carolina, (5) Georgia, and (6) South Carolina.  Not sure beyond that, although I do know those are the top 6.  Tennessee's growth has been mostly middle and east though.  No one wants to live in Memphis due to its high violent crime.  Only city in West Tennessee growing substantially that I know of is Jackson.