Existed: 2015 – present North end: SR 385 in Piperton, TN TN SR 269 → Length 7.6 km | South end: MS 302 near Casey, MS MS US 278 → Constructed 2015 | |
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History: Opened in 1998 as SR 385 | ||
Interstate 269 (I-269) is a partially built outer beltway around the city of Memphis, Tennessee, and its adjacent suburban areas in southwestern Tennessee and northern Mississippi. As of 2015, I-269 is signed along a 4.7-mile (7.6 km) segment between Mississippi Highway 302 (MS 302) and Tennessee State Route 385 (SR 385). The majority of Tennessee's portion is completed, but signed as SR 385. The remainder of Mississippi's portion is under construction and expected to open in 2018.
Contents
Map of I-269, United States
History
On January 29, 2007 the Federal Highway Administration 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 Piperton.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation's 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.
On October 18, 2007, the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) announced that a bond was successfully issued through the state's Highway Enhancements Through Local Partnerships (HELP) Program for $83 million to cover planning and right-of-way acquisition costs for Mississippi's portion of the route. Mississippi began its part of I-269 construction on June 23, 2011, with the 25-mile (40 km) section from the state line to I-55 totaling construction costs of $640 million as of 2014. Completion of I-269 to Hernando, thus marking the completion of the entire beltway, is expected in the latter half of 2015. The construction costs of the Tennessee portion of SR 385 from the 1980s until completion in 2013 is over $500 million. Both states combined investments are over $1.2 billion for the 64.3-mile I-269 project including construction and rights of way expense listed above.
On October 23, 2015, the first signed segment of I-269 opened between SR 385 and MS 302.
Future
I-269 is under construction from the I-55/I-69 interchange in Hernando to MS 302. This segment is expected to be completed in 2018.