U.S. Route 51 (US 51), mostly overlapped by the

unsigned Unsigned can refer to: * An unsigned artist is a musical artist or group not attached or signed to a record label ** Unsigned Music Awards, ceremony noting achievements of unsigned artists ** Unsigned band web, online community * Similarly, the ...

State Route 3 (SR 3), is a north–south state highway in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

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 ...

, that is 135.9 miles (218.71 km) long, completely within

West Tennessee West Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that roughly comprises the western quarter of the state. The region includes 21 counties between the Tennessee and Mississippi rivers, delineated by state law. Its g ...

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 ...

(24 January 2003). "State Highway and Interstate List 2003" It begins in Shelby County and ends in

Obion County Obion County is a county located in the northwest corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 31,807. The county seat is Union City. The county was formed in 1823 and organized in 1824. It was named af ...

. The SR 3 designation is seen largely on

milepost A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to s ...

s. The two places where US 51 and SR 3 differ are in Memphis, where US 51 has been moved to Danny Thomas Boulevard (

State Route 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbered S ...

/ State Route 4), while SR 3 remains on the

one-way pair A one-way pair, one-way couple, or couplet refers to that portion of a bi-directional traffic facilitysuch as a road, bus, streetcar, or light rail linewhere its opposing flows exist as two independent and roughly parallel facilities. Descriptio ...

of 2nd and 3rd Streets, and in South Fulton, where US 51 crosses the state line on State Route 215 to the Purchase Parkway, while SR 3 remains on the old road, now U.S. Route 45.

Route description

US 51 enters Tennessee at Memphis and runs north through the cities of Millington, Munford, Atoka, Brighton,

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, Henning,

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, Halls, Dyersburg,

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Çan ...

, Union City, and South Fulton. This highway crosses four

interstate highway The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. T ...

s on its journey through the state and actually crosses Interstate 240 twice within the City of Memphis but interchanges with it only at Union Avenue. US 51 is the westernmost south–north

United States Highway The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these ...

in the State of Tennessee. US 51 is an interstate standard facility from Dyersburg to South of Troy and then resuming interstate standard status north of Union City to South Fulton. US 51 is a four-lane or larger facility throughout the state with some sections north of Dyersburg carrying a speed limit. Near Henning is also the site of the

Hatchie River The Hatchie River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed June 3, 2011 river in northern Mississippi and southwestern Tennessee. It is of considerable geographic, cultural, a ...

Bridge collapse on April 1, 1989 that killed 8 motorists when 3 spans of the structure collapsed. The 54-year-old bridge was north of Memphis and carried the northbound lanes of US 51. Its collapse was the result of

pier scour Seaside pleasure pier in England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century. A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out ...

and movement of the river channel. US 51 carries the

Tennessee Scenic Parkway 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 ...

designation from its junction with SR 385 in Millington to SR 104 in Dyersburg and also carries the

Great River Road The Great River Road is a collection of state and local roads that follow the course of the Mississippi River through ten states of the United States. They are Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Miss ...

designation from US 64/ US 70/ US 79 in Memphis to SR 88 in Halls.

History

Historic two-lane alignments of this highway from Henning north are represented by State Route 209, a portion of State Route 88, State Route 210, State Route 211, a portion of State Route 183 and State Route 184. From Memphis to Henning, most of the original two lane road was upgraded to four lane expressway in the 1960s.

Future

Most of US 51 north of Dyersburg is expected to be upgraded as part of future

Interstate 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 ...

. Plans currently call for Interstate 69 to run along the existing US 51

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

from Dyersburg to Troy and from Union City to South Fulton. This section is part of SIU 7 for Interstate 69 and will require few changes beyond resigning the existing highway, however, a

bypass Bypass may refer to: * Bypass (road), a road that avoids a built-up area (not to be confused with passing lane) * Flood bypass of a river Science and technology Medicine * Bypass surgery, a class of surgeries including for example: ** Heart bypas ...

route around Troy and Union City will need to be built before this section of future Interstate 69 is completed.

Major intersections

Dyersburg business route

U.S. Route 51 Business (US 51 Bus.) is a

business route A business route (or business loop, business spur, or city route) in the United States is a short special route connected to a ''parent'' numbered highway at its beginning, then routed through the central business district of a nearby city or ...

of US 51 located entirely in the city of Dyersburg in Dyer County. It has the unsigned designation of State Route 211 (SR 211) for its entire length. The highway begins as South Main Avenue at a large

three-way intersection A three-way junction (or three-way intersection) is a type of intersection (road), road intersection with three arms. A Y junction (or Y intersection) generally has three arms of equal size coming at an acute angle, acute or obtuse angle to each ...

with US 51/ SR 3 on the southern edge of the city. It heads north, concurrent with SR 211, as a two-lane road through a business district before traveling through wooded areas and crossing a bridge over the North Fork of the Forked Deer River into downtown. US 51 Bus./SR 211 pass by the Dyer County Courthouse and becomes concurrent with SR 104 (East Court Street) as the road becomes North Main Avenue shortly before making an abrupt left turn onto McGaughey Street. US 51 Bus./SR 211 then split before heading through neighborhoods along Troy Avenue before turning right onto Gordon Street. The highway then makes a left turn onto North Sampson Avenue and passes through more neighborhoods before merging onto St. John Avenue. They then travel through a business district before widening to a four-lane highway and coming to an end at an

intersection In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, thei ...

with US 51/SR 3, where US 51 Bus. ends and SR 211 follows northbound US 51/SR 3 north on St. John Avenue.

References

External links

* {{state detail page browse, type=US, route=51, statebefore=Mississippi, state=Tennessee, stateafter=Kentucky 51 Interstate 69 051 Transportation in Shelby County, Tennessee Transportation in Tipton County, Tennessee Transportation in Lauderdale County, Tennessee Transportation in Dyer County, Tennessee Transportation in Obion County, Tennessee Tennessee Freeways in Tennessee Transportation in Memphis, Tennessee