Interstate 269 (I-269) is a

beltway A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

around the city of

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the County seat, seat of Shelby County, Tennessee, Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 Uni ...

, and its adjacent suburban areas in southwestern

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

and northern

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mis ...

, completed in October 2018. I-269 was planned and built to serve as an outer bypass for the Memphis metropolitan area, funneling through traffic around the metro area while also functioning as a bypass of future

I-69 Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States currently consisting of 10 unconnected segments with an original continuous segment from Indianapolis, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian border in Port Huron, Michigan, a ...

, which will run directly through the center of the metro area. I-269 currently connects to its parent route, I-69, at an interchange in

Hernando, Mississippi Hernando is a city in, and the county seat of, DeSoto County, which is on the northwestern border of Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,090 at the 2010 census, up from 6,812 in 2000. DeSoto County is the second-most-populous count ...

, and will do so again in

Millington, Tennessee Millington is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and is a part of the Memphis metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 10,176. Millington was granted the title "Flag City Tennessee" by the Tennessee Stat ...

, in the future.

Route description

I-269 begins at an interchange with

near Hernando, Mississippi. The highway travels eastward across rural areas to the town of

Byhalia, Mississippi Byhalia , is a town in Marshall County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,302 as of the 2010 census. History Byhalia was founded in the 1830s and named after Byhalia Creek, which flows past the site. Geography According to the Un ...

, where it has an interchange with I-22/ U.S. Route 78 (US 78). Here, the highway continues northeastward, slowly veering north towards the Tennessee state line. Entering Tennessee, I-269 has an interchange with US 72 and the southern segment of State Route 385 (SR 385) in Collierville. The route then proceeds north along former SR 385 to an interchange with

I-40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

and the northern segment of SR 385 in Arlington.

History

The

Tennessee Department of Transportation The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) is a multimodal agency with statewide responsibilities in roadways, aviation, public transit, waterways, and railroads. The mission of TDOT is to provide a safe and reliable transportation syste ...

's (TDOT) plans called for the two sections to be connected in phases. Plans had the portion extending south from an incomplete interchange with SR 385 south to the Mississippi state line to completed in October 2015 to coincide with completion of the section in Mississippi from the Tennessee state line to Mississippi Highway 302 (MS 302). On January 29, 2007, the

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program ...

(FHWA) issued a record of decision giving final federal approval for I-269, paving the way for the two states to design and construct the remaining section between Hernando and Collierville. The first section of what is now I-269, the Winfield Dunn Parkway, from I-40 to US 64 opened on September 4, 2007, signed as SR 385. The segment between US 64 and to SR 193 (Macon Road) opened on June 15, 2009, and the segment between SR 193 and SR 57 opened on November 22, 2013. The last section of the Bill Morris Parkway, most of which remains signed as SR 385, was opened between US 72 and SR 57 on August 23, 2007. On October 18, 2007, the

Mississippi Department of Transportation The Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) is the organization in charge of developing and maintaining all state and federal roadways in the U.S. state of Mississippi. In addition to highways, the department also has a limited role in sup ...

(MDOT) announced that a bond was successfully issued through the state's Highway Enhancements Through Local Partnerships (HELP) Program for $83 million (equivalent to $ in ) to cover planning and

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

acquisition costs for Mississippi's portion of the route. Mississippi began its part of I-269 construction on June 23, 2011, with the section from the state line to I-55 totaling construction costs of $640 million (equivalent to $ in ) as of 2014. On October 23, 2015, the first signed segment of I-269 opened between the eastern terminus of SR 385 in Collierville and MS 302. On December 5, 2017, the second segment opened between MS 302 and MS 305, including the I-22 interchange. In 2018, TDOT redesignated a portion of SR 385 between Collierville and I-40 in Arlington as I-269. The segment of I-269 from the I-55/I-69 interchange in Hernando to MS 305 in Lewisburg, Mississippi, was completed on October 26, 2018, completing the connection between I-40 in Tennessee and I-55 in Mississippi. The construction costs of the Tennessee portion of SR 385 from the 1980s until completion in 2013 was over $500 million (equivalent to $ in ). Both states' combined investments were over $1.2 billion (equivalent to $ in ) for the I-269 project, including construction and rights-of-way expense listed above. On October 13, 2021, a new interchange at McIngvale Road opened to traffic following a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The $8.7-million project also included realigning a section of McIngvale Road between Byhalia Road and Green T Road and widening it to five lanes.

Exit list

References

External links

Design Public Hearing Announcement
(Tennessee Department of Transportation)
Original and current plans
(Mississippi Department of Transportation)

{{3di, 69 69-2 69-2 2 69-2 Transportation in DeSoto County, Mississippi Transportation in Shelby County, Tennessee Memphis metropolitan area

Route description

History

Exit list

See also

References

External links