I-40 Memphis mess

[gearhead]

It's a mess on I-40 around Memphis. Lots of construction east of town.
Avoid it if you can.

[hankaye]

gearhead, Howdy;

Was the "Mess" West of I-269? If so then the "Outer Loop"
of I-269 would be a feasible route to take. To the North will
take one to Millington then US-51 South to SR 300 and back
on to I-40 to continue West.
Or, one could go South on I-269 to Collierville where it blends into
SR-385 (multi-lane divided roadway), which will connect to I-240
to go around the South side of Memphis.
Going West into Arkansas I'd go North to Millington, if you want
to go South on I-69 visit Graceland or Mississippi then head to Collierville.

Memphis is always a mess anyway.

hankaye

[PARAPTOR]

Been in Oklahoma/Texas area last month and a half, Sorry guys but I have had enough of this Finally found a way out of here and Signs "Boats or Submarines Only" on local roads are coming down. Now this great news

Came out here to see if it was true that Soccer Moms drive Duallys in this area of the country.

Maybe next trip to Hurricane Alley

[byrdr1]

Originally Posted by PARAPTOR

Been in Oklahoma/Texas area last month and a half, Sorry guys but I have had enough of this Finally found a way out of here and Signs "Boats or Submarines Only" on local roads are coming down. Now this great news

Came out here to see if it was true that Soccer Moms drive Duallys in this area of the country.

Maybe next trip to Hurricane Alley

I did that for you already this year. Tried to sleep through Tropical storm ANA as she came ashore in Myrtle Beach, SC. needless to say I did not sleep very much that Saturday night. And watched it rain non stop from 5:30pm saturday night until sometime in the morning Monday. With wind gust of 35-50 mph and that's one time I wished I did not have slide out awning toppers..
Oh course over the last few years we have camped in several storms or through them, never have been in direct path except one or two after they came ashore and been over land a while. They can make lots of rain. We were at Myrtle Beach camping when Sandy went up the east coast before hitting land. camping at the lake when Dennis came through one September or what ever that storm's name was but we had wind and lots of rain.
So I have gotten those out of the way for you.
randy

[gearhead]

Originally Posted by PARAPTOR

Been in Oklahoma/Texas area last month and a half, Sorry guys but I have had enough of this Finally found a way out of here and Signs "Boats or Submarines Only" on local roads are coming down. Now this great news

Came out here to see if it was true that Soccer Moms drive Duallys in this area of the country.

Maybe next trip to Hurricane Alley

I just got home from Tennessee. Every river between Memphis and home is up and muddy. Texarkana is having a historic flood on the Red River. First thing I did when I got home was to check the Trinity River..it's up against the levee in my back yard. We're good, probably 8 feet of levee showing and the river is falling.
Heck our town made national news...the drowning cattle round-up with airboats. LOL
So I guess you saw that it IS true that soccer Moms drive duallys??

[hankaye]

gearhead, Howdy;

So, where was all the construction in the Memphis area that you were
talking about when you started this thread?

hankaye

[notanlines]

I live in Memphis and I'm kind of wondering the same thing. When you come in from the east on I-40 there is construction at the 40-240 interchange and will be for the next five years. But it isn't much to talk about.....maybe a ten minute delay or thereabouts. If one happens to be coming from out of town, simply take the 385 (called locally the Bill Morris Parkway) around the southeast side of the city all the way to 240 and keep on going towards the west. Do not take anything towards Millington. Now if you're going to Millington or to Highway 51 north that's a little different. But any road to Millington will NOT take you to a bridge across the Mississippi. Take my word for this: We have traveled this country about 33,000 miles the last year towing travel trailers and 5th wheels, and nothing in Memphis is really much of a problem. And Gearhead, you sorry rascal, I told you to email us and we'd buy you coffee or lunch when you came through.....

[hankaye]

notanlines, Howdy;

Come-on now ... I did say that they should
connect with SR 300 and carry that to I-40 ...

hankaye

[notanlines]

@Hankaye, I can see where one's GPS might bring a traveler this direction, but it would not be a path that any locals would use to get through the city. On paper it might appear shorter, but it probably wouldn't be time-wise. The great part of this is that part of Highway 51 that you mention is eventually going to be part of I-69, the NAFTA Superhighway if you will, connecting Canada and Mexico. Uh, and paid for by Americans? Maybe this should be saved for a political forum.....

[C130]

I get to test it out tomorrow, leaving Hot Springs, AR and headed to Tennessee. I seem to always get caught in traffic, construction in Memphis every time we go visit family.

[hankaye]

notanlines, Howdy;

The military sent me to Millington in the Autumn of '68 for some schooling.
51 was our road to Memphis (Liberty), on the Gray buses. Beal St. was off
Limits then. Frasier was not a good place for us to step off the bus. Quite a
dust-up with the locals there that Winter.
Since then I've had to go up across the street from the Race track to drop
off and pick up some Hazmat, then on to somewhere else. Found the ride
along 51 to be quiet and relaxing.

hankaye

[PARAPTOR]

Finally getting out of this bad weather and Flooding (Oklahoma, Texas) and now have some time to respond. Currently In Southern Arkansas then onto Memphis, etc on the way home.

byrdr1, Thanks for covering me for the Hurricanes. Think I had enough of this bad weather for a while!

gearhead, No did not have a chance to confirm if Soccer Moms drive Duallys, too busy watching weather warnings and road postings “Submarine/Boat access only”. Route 71 still closed south of Ashdown Arkansas. Driving around that area I was amazed at the level of flooding!

After a rest, on to Memphis and Nashville to experience the traffic jams, After this trip why not

[gearhead]

I was somewhere just east of Memphis on I-40. It was past what I would call morning rush hour..maybe 10am. Traffic comes to a fast halt. At least 30 minutes just creeping in 1st gear. I-40 westbound was down to one lane.
Co-pilot/Navigator was snoring beforehand.
Jim...we dodged Memphis on the way to Indy and stayed at the casino in Carruthers, MO. On the way back home we had stayed near Jackson TN and were planning a long day on the road. We will repeat this trip next year for the 100th running of the Indy500.

[C130]

We got slowed down some going eastbound through Memphis but we went through mid afternoon. Rush hour would have been terrible I'm guessing. On the return trip I started about an hour east of Nashville and left at 0500 and went through Memphis around 0930 and really had no issues to speak of. Timing is everything though going through Memphis with all the construction. I made it back to the Houston area in about fourteen and a half hours with my son and two dogs which we had to take on short walks a couple of times. I stopped for diesel three times and never paid over $2.66 which was nice. Saying I hate highway 59 is an understatement and I cannot believe it's 2015 and there's not an interstate on that route. There was an 18 wheeler southbound on 59 on the trip up to Tennessee and it had a blowout as it went by. Sounded like a gunshot and scared the crap out of all of us.

[gearhead]

Yep. When we go to northwest Arkansas we go up I45 to avoid 59. It's very tiring to speed up and slow down for all the small towns.
If you're not in a hurry its ok though. I just seem to always be in a hurry. Stopping at Texarkana worked good for us this last trip. We just have to plan to not get out of Texas the first day.

[Exsailor]

Ditto Jims response. I live south of memphis and commuted thru the 40/240 debacle for a while. Seems Memphis got some Fed money a couple of years ago and decided to upgrade 40, 240, the i terchange and the 40 bridge over the river at the same time. Key is to avoid rush hour, but at its worst I still wouldnt have Memphis in my top 5 traffic pains.

[JRTJH]

We just towed through Memphis from Arkansas last week. Over the I-40 bridge, past the sun reflecting off the Pro Bass pyramid (talk about glare) and through the maze of 40/240. Like Exsailor, I wouldn't put it on my list of the "top five worst". In fact, I wouldn't put it in the top twenty. That being said, of all the states we towed through this summer (23) by far, the worst roads were in Arkansas. Between the lane closures where there was no construction, patches of the patched pot holes and generally poor/deteriorated road surface conditions, the one place I'll try to avoid in the future is the Little Rock/West Memphis corridor !!!

[gearhead]

I agree it's nowhere near the worst traffic I've ever seen. Anyone that has ever driven through Houston can relate to that. I-10 will make you wish you were anywhere else. Well any of the roads in Houston can get unbelievable. Throw in some construction or a wreck and it's gridlock.