Interstate 269 Mississippi and Tennessee

Proposed Routing

Interstate 269 is the proposed designation for the planned beltway around Memphis. Beginning in Hernando, Mississippi, at its interchange with Interstate 55 and Future Interstate 69, Interstate 269 would travel east via the Mississippi 304 corridor, then turn north around Lewisburg. In this vicinity, Interstate 269 would meet Interstate 22 and U.S. 78/High Priority Corridor 10/Appalachian Redevelopment Corridor X. Turning north, Interstate 269 would cross into Tennessee, meet Tennessee 385 and U.S. 72/High Priority Corridor 7, then take over the route of Tennessee Secondary 205 north. Near Interstate 40 in Arlington, Interstate 269 will take over the remainder of the Tennessee 385/Nonconnah Parkway corridor north and then west to rejoin Interstate 69 and U.S. 51 at Millington.

Added as an alternate route to Interstate 69, which would serve downtown Memphis, Interstate 269 would connect several existing freeway segments and planned freeway segments that constitute an outer beltway of Memphis. Parts of the freeway already exist as Tennessee 385 between Collierville and Millington. The section of Tennessee 385 between Interstate 240 and Collierville is not a part of the proposed Interstate 269; however, it may gain Interstate status as part of this project. One of the first maps to display the proposed route of Interstate 269 appears in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which shows Interstate 269 following the existing freeway routes in Tennessee (Tennessee 385 and Secondary 205) but offers some alternate alignments in Mississippi (Central Alignment, B-1; Southern Alignment, B-2; and Northern Alignment, B-3).¹ Preliminary citizen reaction indicates that the B-1 alignment is preferred; a final decision on the alignment is expected in mid-November 2004.²

Schedule

Parts of Interstate 269 are already completed and are temporarily designated as state routes, while other sections are still under review for final alignment as of early November 2004:

• Hernando to Collierville - draft EIS complete; final alignment selection to be determined in November 2004
• Collierville to Interstate 40 - alignment approved; construction underway
• Interstate 40 to U.S. 51 - route complete

Background

For a time prior to the current designation, the beltway route was considered for Interstate 69, but the city of Memphis wanted Interstate 69 to pass directly through downtown, so the bypass had to be numbered as something else. The bypass was briefly referred to as Interstate 669 on some Internet chat rooms and on misc.transport.road, but Interstate 269 was the designation ultimately chosen.

Mileage