Relief For Nashville's I-40.

By Steve Hudson

Dement Construction is leading a team of contractors that's bringing much-needed relief to the I-40/Briley Parkway area in east Nashville.

If you've traveled into Nashville from the east on Interstate 40, you well know how crowded the area's highways can become. Between local traffic and added vehicle counts from visitors to Opryland and other attractions, it can sometimes take a long time to go just a few miles in this busy part of the city.

Fortunately, thanks to a project currently under way on I-40 just east of Nashville, relief is in the works. Construction is moving ahead on the widening of I-40 and the reconstruction of the Briley Parkway Interchange adjacent to the Nashville International Airport, and the payoff is sure to be greatly reduced traffic congestion.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation awarded the $65.68 million contract to Dement Construction Company, LLC of Jackson, Tenn. The project begins at I-24 and extends eastward for more than three miles to a point 3,000 feet east of Donelson Pike. The Briley Parkway reconstruction, which will result in a carefully designed directional interchange designed to maximize efficient flow of traffic, begins 750 feet south of Karen Drive and extends to 1,700 feet south of Elm Hill Pike. The overall project includes grading, drainage, bridge work at 10 locations, 18 retaining walls, and one noise barrier wall, plus paving, signage, pavement markings, lighting, guardrail, and relocation of utilities.

When completed, I-40 eastbound will carry five lanes of traffic between the I-24 Interchange and Briley Parkway, where the fifth lane will become an exit-only lane. Four traffic lanes will then continue under the Briley Parkway overpass to a point where the two-lane entrance ramp from Briley Parkway merges with I-40 to provide six traffic lanes. From that point, I-40 will carry those six lanes of traffic to the Nashville International Airport exit, where the sixth lane will become an exit-only lane. …

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