Interstate 40 in Tennessee - History

History

The Tennessee leg of Interstate 40 was part of the original 1,047 miles (1,685 km) of interstate highways authorized for Tennessee by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956. The first section of Interstate 40— Nonconnah Creek to Hindman Ferry Road in Shelby County— was contracted in 1956, and within a year contracts had been awarded for sections in Davidson, Knox, Roane, Haywood, Madison, Jefferson, and Cocke counties. By 1958, sections in Loudon, Smith, Putnam, Cumberland, Humphreys, Hickman, and Sevier counties had been contracted. Most of Interstate 40 had been completed by the late 1960s.

In Memphis, I-40 was originally slated to pass through the city's Overton Park, a 342-acre (138 ha) wooded refuge that had become an important stopover for migratory birds. Fearing that the interstate's construction would upset the park's fragile ecological balance, environmentalists waged a 12-year legal battle to prevent highway construction in the park, culminating in the United States Supreme Court decision, Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe. The Supreme Court remanded the case to the district court for further review, and the district ruled that the highway commission had not adequately explored alternative routes. In 1981, the highway commission abandoned plans to route I-40 through Overton Park, and instead redesignated the northern portion of Interstate 240 as Interstate 40. For over 20 years, I-40 signage existed on the dead-end route toward Overton Park. Several miles of interstate were actually built within the Interstate 240 loop; this portion of highway still exists and is in regular use as Sam Cooper Boulevard, reaching the eastern end of Chickasaw Country Club.