ARKANSAS – Officials said Friday that the U.S. Department of Transportation will spend almost $400 million to replace the 75-year-old bridge that spans the Mississippi River and connects Tennessee and Arkansas with Interstate 55.
Gov. Bill Lee (R) of Tennessee and U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D) of Memphis both said in separate news reports that the Transportation Department told Congress on Friday that it will spend more than $393 million to build the new bridge.
The current I-55 bridge was built in 1949, but it is still an important and highly used road that thousands of cars and commercial trucks cross every day. Along with the Interstate 40 bridge, this old bridge is one of two that connect Memphis to Arkansas.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas said, “Arkansas is where America’s road, river, and rail infrastructure meet.” “This is the biggest infrastructure project that the two states have ever worked together on. It will help Arkansas become a leader in transportation and logistics and bring more people to our state.” Gov. Bill Lee and the other state and city leaders who made it happen deserve praise.
The I-40 bridge had to be closed for weeks in 2021 to fix a crack in the construction, which made officials want to update the I-55 bridge. Lee’s office said that the new bridge will be built to meet modern seismic standards and will be able to handle about 64,000 vehicles every day, which is a lot more than the present 48,000 vehicles.
“I’m proud of the collaboration between Arkansas, Tennesee, and other regional stakeholders to help secure this important infrastructure funding for our region,” Lorie Tudor, ARDOT director, said. “I want to thank the USDOT for investing in this important link between Arkansas and Tennessee because they knew how important it was.” Thank you very much to Arkansas’s Congressional Delegation for their support and work on this project.
The governor’s office of Tennessee said that both the Tennessee and Arkansas transportation departments have agreed to spend up to $250 million on the project.
“This one-of-a-kind investment in Memphis is the biggest in the history of the state of Tennessee’s transportation system, and it will change everything,” Lee said.
Cohen is a senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He has talked about the project in committee meetings, most recently on June 28 with Pete Buttigieg, who is the Transportation Secretary. When the I-40 bridge was closed, Buttigieg went to Memphis.
Cohen said that the project got some of its money from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was passed in 2021.
Cohen said, “Transportation across America makes jobs and boosts our economy—America’s River Crossing.”
Environmental studies are being done right now, and public meetings are set for August.
