WikiPortallus: Interstate 40.html

When the last portion of I-40, connecting Wilmington to Raleigh, was completed in the late 1980s, Charles Kuralt stated:

Route description

California

Arizona

Interstate 40 is a principal route to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, with the exits leading into Grand Canyon National Park in Williams and Flagstaff. I-40 covers 359 miles (578 km) in Arizona.

New Mexico

I-40 used to have a conventional mileage sign in New Mexico to the east of San Jon (a village to the east of Tucumcari, New Mexico) which probably bore the longest distance on such a sign. The sign showed 1,007 miles (1,621 km) for Los Angeles,⁴ although I-40 doesn't actually go there (it is accessed via Interstates 15 and 10). I-40 covers 374 miles (602 km) in New Mexico.

Numerous roads throughout the state connect directly to the interstate in violation of Interstate Highway Standards.

Texas

In the west Texas panhandle area, there are several ranch roads connected directly to the interstate. One of the marked at-grade crossings is shown to the left.

Oklahoma

Interstate 40 flows through the heart of the state, passing through many cities and towns of Oklahoma. Some of them include Erick, Sayre, Elk City, Clinton, Weatherford, El Reno, Yukon, Oklahoma City, Midwest City, Shawnee, Okemah, Henryetta, Checotah, Sallisaw, and Roland. (NOTE: Fort Smith, AR is accessible from I-40 at Roland, OK via US Hwy 64.) I-40 covers 331 miles (533 km) in Oklahoma. In Oklahoma City there is a section called the crosstown, the east end of which is at its intersection with Interstate 35 and the west end at about May Avenue just south of the Oklahoma City Fair Grounds. There is an on going project to relocate this section of the interstate a few blocks south because of the condition of the crosstown bridge.

Arkansas

I-40 passes through several notable towns and cities in Arkansas. On the western side of the state, the interstate passes through Van Buren, Alma, Ozark, Clarksville, Russellville, Atkins, and Morrilton. Fort Smith and Fayetteville are accessible via I-540, which intersects I-40 at Van Buren and overlaps it through Alma. The interstate also passes through Conway and North Little Rock in central Arkansas, and Brinkley and West Memphis on the eastern side. It is a major thoroughfare for commerce; I-30's eastbound terminus at I-40 in North Little Rock cause the east side of the state to be inundated with more commercial traffic than the west side.

Tennessee

More miles of Interstate 40 pass through Tennessee than any other state. The interstate itself goes through the three largest cities in Tennessee: Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville. Dandridge, Jackson, Lebanon, Cookeville, Crossville, and Newport are other notable cities and/or towns that I-40 travels through. I-40 goes through all of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee, meaning one can pretty much see all of the major sights in Tennessee along Interstate 40. . Before leaving the state, I-40 emerges into the Great Smoky Mountains. I-40 in general has a lot of hills, especially in the eastern half of the state. I-40 covers 455 miles (732 km) in Tennessee.

The section of interstate 40 which runs between Memphis and Nashville is often referred to as "Music Highway."

On May 1, 2008, a long section of I-40 through downtown Knoxville near the central Malfunction Junction has been completely closed to all traffic, and will be so for about 14 months, due to a project for complete reconstruction. Through traffic is required to use the Interstate 640 northern bypass route. The closed section was antiquated, just two lanes wide each way, quite substandard, congested, and had many accidents.⁵⁶

North Carolina

In North Carolina, I-40 merges with I-85 between Greensboro and Hillsborough, just west of Durham. In Alamance County, the highway is also known as the Sam Hunt Freeway. Due to a recent rerouting of I-85 around Greensboro, I-40 departs from it eight miles (13 km) east of the original split. From February through Mid September 2008 I-40 had moved to a new alignment south of Greensboro, which also carries the new I-85 bypass and will eventually carry Interstate 73 as well, and the old I-40 through Greensboro became a second I-40 freeway Business Loop. However, on September 12, 2008 after compliants from motorists and residents, NCDOT got permission from the FHWA to relocate I-40 back onto the old aligment through Greensboro; this resulted in the decommissioning of Interstate 40 Business through Greensboro. To make up for the removal of I-40 from the loop, US 421 was rerouted onto I-40's old alignment. I-40 covers 407 miles (655 km) in North Carolina.

In violation of Interstate standards, I-40 has one marked and two unmarked at-grade crossings in western North Carolina. About eight miles (13 km) from the Tennessee border in North Carolina, when going westbound, a sign for "Hurricane Road" will appear. Hurricane Road is a local dirt road whose quality is below that of the breakdown lane, and the intersection is controlled by a stop sign. It is a right-in, right-out entrance. A couple other unmarked local roads also directly link onto I-40 in the area, including a private access road for Walters Dam between mile markers 11 and 12 on the westbound side.

History

For about 1,000 miles (1,600 km), I-40 follows the general route of the Beale Wagon Road from Arkansas to California. The Beale Wagon Road was built in 1857-59 by a team led by Lt. Edward Fitzgerald Beale using a team of camels as pack animals.

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, I-40 was originally meant to replace Central Avenue through the center of the city. However, due to development and public opposition, a route running to the north of that one was chosen.^{citation needed} The freeway intersects Central Ave. at both ends of the city.

In 1957, the California Department of Highways proposed that the route be renumbered to Interstate 30, instead, because of the already existing U.S. Route 40 in the state. Then, U.S. Rte-40 was decommissioned in California in 1964, as a part of a major revamping of California's overall highway numbering system, so the problem disappeared.⁷

The California State government submitted State Route 58 between Barstow and Bakersfield for I-40 extension potential in 1956 and 1968, though those requests were rejected.⁸ This portion of SR 58 was once signed as the U.S. Route 466.

From 1963 to 1966, the US government considered a plan, part of Operation Plowshare, to use atomic bombs to excavate a path for I-40 through California. The project was scuttled largely due to the cost of developing the explosives, and especially as the unavailability of a "clean bomb."⁹

In Memphis, I-40 was originally intended to go through the city's Overton Park toward downtown. Several miles of interstate were actually built within the I-240 loop. That portion of highway still exists, and it is in regular use as the non-Interstate Sam Cooper Boulevard, reaching the eastern end of the "Chickasaw Country Club". Environmentalist opposition, combined with a victory in the United States Supreme Court by opponents of the Overton Park route (see Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe) forced abandonment of the original plans, and the road never reached the park. For over 20 years, I-40 signs existed on the dead-end route toward Overton Park. Eventually, the northern span of the Interstate 240 loop was redesignated as I-40.

Originally, I-40 was constructed through downtown Winston-Salem, and it continued to follow that route until a new urban bypass route was built. After the bypass was completed around 1992, I-40 was relocated to the new freeway. The old highway was then redesignated as Interstate 40 Business, creating a business route that is actually an expressway for its entire length, a rarity among business routes. There are arguments that the former I-40 expressway in Winston-Salem should become an interstate again, especially since the road is currently undergoing an upgrade. There are no even loop numbers left for I-40, however, since the NCDOT has plans to use last available one Interstate 840 for the northern loop of a beltway that is being built around nearby Greensboro.^{citation needed} Hypothetically, the two routes could be numbered Interstate-40N and Interstate-40S.

The I-40 Bridge Disaster occurred on May 26, 2002 when a barge collided with a bridge foundation member near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, causing a 580-foot (177 m) section of the I-40 bridge to plunge into the Arkansas River. Automobiles and semi-trailers fell into the water, killing fourteen people.

Major intersections

Auxiliary routes

In Oklahoma City, the designation I-440 had been given to a stretch of Interstate highway from I-240 to US-66; a part of Grand Boulevard that had been built compliant with Interstate standards. In 1982, as part of Oklahoma's "Diamond Jubilee", I-44's western terminus was moved from the I-35/I-44 junction to the Texas/Oklahoma border via the Belle Isle Freeway (connecting I-440 with I-35), I-440, the H.E. Bailey Turnpike, and the turnpike connector road on the eastern edge of Lawton, Oklahoma. The I-440 designation was dropped at the time, but may return in the future.

Interstate 40.html

Contents

Route description

California

Arizona

New Mexico

Texas

Oklahoma

Arkansas

Tennessee

North Carolina

History

Major intersections

Auxiliary routes

See also

Business routes

References

External links

California