Interstate 40 (abbreviated I-40) is a major west-east interstate highway in the United States. Its western terminus is at Interstate 15 in Barstow, California; its eastern terminus is at a concurrency of U.S. Route 117 and North Carolina State Highway 132 in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Much of the western portion of I-40, from Oklahoma City to Barstow, follows historic Route 66.

Route description

California

State law

Length

Major cities

Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs.

• Barstow, California
• Needles, California
• Kingman, Arizona
• Flagstaff, Arizona
• Gallup, New Mexico
• Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Santa Rosa, New Mexico
• Tucumcari, New Mexico
• Amarillo, Texas
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Fort Smith, Arkansas
• Little Rock, Arkansas
• Memphis, Tennessee
• Nashville, Tennessee
• Knoxville, Tennessee
• Asheville, North Carolina
• Statesville, North Carolina
• Winston-Salem, North Carolina
• Greensboro, North Carolina
• Durham, North Carolina
• Raleigh, North Carolina
• Benson, North Carolina
• Wilmington, North Carolina

Note: Los Angeles, California is also used as a control city west of the New Mexico-Texas state line, even though I-40 does not enter Los Angeles, and neither does the interstate at its western terminus (I-15)

Intersections with other interstates

• Interstate 15 in Barstow, California
• Interstate 17 in Flagstaff, Arizona
• Interstate 25 in Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Interstate 27 in Amarillo, Texas
• Interstate 44 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Interstate 35 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Interstate 30 in North Little Rock, Arkansas
• Interstate 55 in West Memphis, Arkansas (the freeways are merged throughout the city)
• Proposed Interstate 69 in Memphis, Tennessee
• Interstate 65 in Nashville, Tennessee (merged for approximately 3 miles)
• Interstate 24 in Nashville, Tennessee (merged for approximately 2 miles)
• Interstate 75 near Dixie Lee Junction, Tennessee. They stay merged until Knoxville, Tennessee.
• Interstate 81 near Dandridge, Tennessee
• Interstate 26 in Asheville, North Carolina
• Interstate 77 in Statesville, North Carolina
• Future Interstate 74 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
• Future Interstate 73 in Greensboro, North Carolina
• Interstate 85 in Greensboro, North Carolina. They stay merged until Hillsborough, North Carolina.
• Interstate 95 in Benson, North Carolina (Map)

Spur routes

• I-140 - Farragut, Tennessee
• I-140 - Wilmington, North Carolina
• I-240 - Asheville, North Carolina
• I-240 - Memphis, Tennessee
• I-240 - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• I-440 - Little Rock, Arkansas
• I-440 - Nashville, Tennessee
• I-440 - Raleigh, North Carolina
• I-540 - Spurs to Fort Smith, Arkansas and Bentonville, Arkansas; proposed to become part of an expanded Interstate 49
• I-540 - Raleigh, North Carolina (may be resigned as I-640 when the northern loop of the road is completed back around to I-40 near Garner. See Note 2 on map regarding renumbering current I-540 as I-640.)
• I-640 - Knoxville, Tennessee
• I-840 - Greensboro, North Carolina

Notes

• The I-40 Bridge Disaster occurred on May 26, 2002 when a barge collided with a bridge support near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, causing a 580 foot (177 meter) section of the I-40 bridge to plunge into the Arkansas River. Automobiles and semi-trucks fell into the water killing 14 people, including a three-year-old girl.

• At each end of the interstate is a sign giving the distance along I-40 to the other end. Photos: Western end at Barstow, CA from ^*

• I-40 also has a conventional mileage sign in New Mexico to the east of San Jon (a village to the east of Tucumcari, New Mexico) which probably bears the longest distance on such a sign. The sign shows 1007 miles for Los AngelesKirby, J.P. et al. misc.transport.road FAQ. URL accessed 21:00, 18 February 2006 (UTC)., although I-40 doesn't actually go there (it is accessed via Interstates 15 and 10).

• Because I-40 goes through the Mojave Desert in California (just like Route 66 before it), its unofficial name is the Mojave Freeway.

• 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; this portion of highway still exists and is in regular use as Sam Cooper Boulevard, reaching the eastern end of Chickasaw Country Club. Public 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 several years, I-40 signage existed on the dead-end route toward Overton Park. Eventually, the northern portion of the I-240 loop was redesignated as I-40.

• The California state government submitted Highway 58 between Barstow and Bakersfield for I-40 extension potential in 1956 and 1968, though those requests were rejected.Waller, Jeff. Interstate 40 Extension and Bakersfield Freeway Network. California Streets. URL accessed 21:19, 18 February 2006 (UTC). This portion of Highway 58 was once signed as U.S. Highway 466. There's also the possibility that I-40 will be extended even further west, to Interstate 5 (at Lost Hills) or U.S. Route 101 (at Paso Robles).

• 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. However, I-40 will be moved to a new alignment south of Greensboro, which currently carries the new I-85 bypass and will eventually carry Interstate 73 as well. The existing I-40 through Greensboro will become a second I-40 freeway Business Loop once the new alignment is finished by 2007. The concurrency with I-85 will be extended another 12 miles (19 km) on this new alignment.

• The first Business Loop of I-40, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is actually a freeway for its entire length, a rarity for Business Interstates. That's because I-40 was originally routed through downtown Winston-Salem, and it continued to follow that route until a new bypass was built. After the bypass was completed around 1992, I-40 was relocated to the new freeway. There are arguments that the former I-40 freeway 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's being built around nearby Greensboro. Other Business Loop freeways include the former Interstate 80 in Sacramento, California and two separate sections of what was once the mainline of Interstate 85 in Spartanburg, South Carolina and Greensboro, North Carolina.

• Future Interstate 840 around Nashville, Tennessee was once planned to completely surround the city. But in October 2003, Tennessee DOT discontinued plans for a northern loop around the city. Currently the Highway is signed as Tennessee 840.

• 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.

• 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 path going northward was chosen. The freeway intersects Central at either end of the city.

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. In the west Texas panhandle area and New Mexico, there are several ranch roads connected directly to the interstate. One of the marked at-grade crossings is shown in the picture. Satellite photo of an at-grade crossing in New Mexico.

• The "Big I" I-25 and I-40 interchange in Albuquerque, New Mexico was given an honorable mention by the United States Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration for excellence in urban highway design in 2002. ^*

• When the last portion of I-40, connecting Wilmington to Raleigh, was completed in the late 1980s, Charles Kuralt stated, "Thanks to the interstate highway system, it is now possible to travel from coast to coast without seeing anything."Wilson, Amy. U.S. Route 66: Historic Road Is Time Line of America. National Geographic News. January 18, 2002. URL accessed 21:31, 18 February 2006 (UTC).

• Signs that read "TO I-40" can be seen in the new Disney/Pixar movie Cars, which is set largely in the fictional town of Radiator Springs. The town's location has become a debatable subject, and since it's located off both I-40 and Route 66, it could be placed in western Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona or eastern California. However, Radiator Springs was most likely based on Amboy, California, a real-life abandoned town located off Route 66.

See also

• Interstate 40 in Texas

References

External links

• The I-40 Bridge Disaster
• Mile by Mile: Arizona/New Mexico State Line to the City of Holbrook
• Mile by Mile: Arizona - Flagstaff to Kingman

Arizona

• Western Exit Guide - Interstate 40 Arizona

California

• WestCoastRoads - Interstate 40
• California Highways: I-40
• The Big Highways Page: California Route 40
• Western Exit Guide - Interstate 40 California
• Cal-NExUS: Route 40 West
• Cal-NExUS: Route 40 East

Amarillo, Texas | Interstate Highway System | Interstate Highways in Arizona | Interstate Highways in Arkansas | Interstate Highways in California | California Freeway and Expressway System | Interstate Highways in New Mexico | Interstate Highways in North Carolina | Interstate Highways in Oklahoma | Interstate Highways in Tennessee | The Triangle, North Carolina | U.S. Route 66 | Blue Star Memorial Highways | Interstate 75