U.S. Route 51 in Tennessee

U.S. Route 51 Business
U.S. Route 51 Business
Location	Dyersburg
Length	3.9 mi (6.3 km)

U.S. Route 51
U.S. Route 51
State Route 3
	U.S. Route 51 in Tennessee, highlighted in red
Route information
	Maintained by TDOT
Length	135.90 mi (218.71 km)
Major junctions
South end	US 51 at the Mississippi state line
	I-55 in Memphis; US 78 in Memphis; US 64 / US 70 / US 72 / US 79 in Memphis; I-240 in Memphis; I-40 in Memphis; Future I-69 / SR 300 in Memphis; I-269 / SR 385 in Millington; I-155 / US 412 in Dyersburg; Future I-169 / US 45W / SR 22 near Union City; US 45 / US 45E in South Fulton;
North end	Future I-69 / US 51 / Purchase Parkway at the Kentucky state line
Location
Country	United States
State	Tennessee
Counties	Shelby, Tipton, Lauderdale, Dyer, Obion
Highway system
	United States Numbered Highway System; List; Special; Divided; Tennessee State Routes; Interstate; US; State;

U.S. Route 51 (US 51), mostly overlapped by the unsigned State Route 3 (SR 3), is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of Tennessee, that is 135.9 miles (218.71 km) long, completely within West Tennessee.^[2] It begins in Shelby County and ends in Obion County. The SR 3 designation is seen largely on mileposts.

The two places where US 51 and SR 3 differ are in Memphis, where US 51 has been moved to Danny Thomas Boulevard (State Route 1 / State Route 4), while SR 3 remains on the one-way pair of 2nd and 3rd Streets, and in South Fulton, where US 51 crosses the state line on State Route 215 to the Purchase Parkway, while SR 3 remains on the old road, now U.S. Route 45.^[1]

Route description

US 51 enters Tennessee at Memphis and runs north through the cities of Millington, Munford, Atoka, Brighton, Covington, Henning, Ripley, Halls, Dyersburg, Troy, Union City, and South Fulton.

This highway crosses four interstate highways on its journey through the state and actually crosses Interstate 240 twice within the City of Memphis but interchanges with it only at Union Avenue. US 51 is the westernmost south–north United States Highway in the State of Tennessee. US 51 is an interstate standard facility^[1] from Dyersburg to South of Troy and then resuming interstate standard status north of Union City to South Fulton. US 51 is a four-lane or larger facility throughout the state with some sections north of Dyersburg carrying a 70 mph (110 km/h) speed limit.

Near Henning is also the site of the Hatchie River Bridge collapse on April 1, 1989 that killed 8 motorists when 3 spans of the structure collapsed. The 54-year-old bridge was 45 miles (72 km) north of Memphis and carried the northbound lanes of US 51. Its collapse was the result of pier scour and movement of the river channel.^[3]^[4]

US 51 carries the Tennessee Scenic Parkway designation from its junction with SR 385 in Millington to SR 104 in Dyersburg and also carries the Great River Road designation from US 64/US 70/US 79 in Memphis to SR 88 in Halls.^[1]

History

Historic two-lane alignments of this highway from Henning north are represented by State Route 209, a portion of State Route 88, State Route 210, State Route 211, a portion of State Route 183 and State Route 184. From Memphis to Henning, most of the original two lane road was widened to four lane expressway in the 1960s.

Future

Most of US 51 north of Dyersburg is expected to be converted to Interstate standards as part of future I-69. Plans currently call for I-69 to run along the existing US 51 freeway from Dyersburg to Troy and from Union City to South Fulton. This section is part of SIU 7 for I-69 and will require few changes beyond resigning the existing highway, however, a bypass route around Troy and Union City will need to be built before this section of future I-69 is completed.^[5]^[6] The Union City Bypass was opened in February 2024 under the temporary designation of SR 690, but there is currently no timeline for when the Troy bypass will be built.^[7]^[8]^[9]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Shelby	Memphis	0.0	0.0	US 51 south – Southaven	Continuation into Mississippi; southern terminus of SR 3; southern end of unsigned SR 3 concurrency
		1.8	2.9	SR 175 (Shelby Drive)
		4.6– 4.8	7.4– 7.7	I-55 to I-240	I-55 exit 5; no access from US 51 south to I-55 north or I-55 south to US 51 north; connections provided via E Brooks Road
		4.9	7.9	Bridge over Nonconnah Creek
		9.3	15.0	US 78 (Lamar Avenue/SR 4)
		9.9	15.9	US 64 east / US 70 east / US 72 east / US 79 north (Union Avenue/SR 23 east)	Southern end of US 64/US 70/US 79 overlap; western terminus of unsigned SR 23
		10.2	16.4	I-240 south – Jackson, MS	No direct access to north(west)bound I-240 nor from south(east)bound I-240 (both signed at Madison Avenue); I-240 exit 30
		11.3	18.2	US 64 west / US 70 west / US 79 south (Union Avenue/SR 3 north) / Danny Thomas Boulevard south (SR 1 west / SR 4 east)	Northern end of US 64/US 70/US 79/SR 3 overlap; southern end of SR 1/SR 4 overlap; interchange
		11.5	18.5	Madison Avenue	Interchange
		11.6	18.7	Jefferson Avenue	Interchange
		12.1– 12.3	19.5– 19.8	I-40 – Little Rock, Nashville	I-40 exits 1B–D
		12.5	20.1	SR 1 east (North Parkway) / SR 14 south (A.W. Willis Avenue)	Northern end of SR 1 overlap; southern end of SR 14 overlap
		12.6	20.3	SR 14 north (Jackson Avenue)	Northern end of SR 14 overlap
		13.1	21.1	Chelsea Avenue (SR 3 south)	Eastern terminus of SR 4; southern end of SR 3 overlap; no left turn from either direction
		14.8– 15.0	23.8– 24.1	Bridge over the Wolf River
		15.4– 15.7	24.8– 25.3	I-40 (via SR 300) – Airport	I-40 exit 2A; future I-69
		16.2	26.1	Great River Road south (Whitney Avenue) – General DeWitt Spain Airport
		18.4	29.6	SR 388 north / Great River Road north (North Watkins Street) – Meeman-Shelby State Park	Southern terminus of SR 388
		20.3– 20.4	32.7– 32.8	Bridge over the Loosahatchie River
	Millington	26.7– 26.9	43.0– 43.3	SR 385 south (Paul W. Barret Parkway) to I-40 – Arlington	Northern terminus of SR 385; future I-269
	Millington	27.7	44.6	SR 205 south (Navy Road) – University of Memphis Millington Center, Millington Municipal Airport, NSA Mid-South	Northern terminus of SR 205
Tipton	Atoka–Munford line	35.3	56.8	SR 178 north (Tipton Road) – Munford	Southern terminus of SR 178
	Atoka–Munford line	37.7	60.7	SR 206 (Munford Avenue/Munford-Atoka Road) – Munford, Atoka, Drummonds
	Brighton	40.8	65.7	Old Highway 51 – Brighton Business District
	Brighton	42.7	68.7	Old Highway 51 – Brighton Business District
	Covington	47.2	76.0	SR 59 east (Mueller Brass Road) – Mason, Braden	Southern end of SR 59 overlap; truck route to SR 54 east
		49.2	79.2	SR 54 east (W Pleasant Street) – Brownsville	Western terminus of SR 54; one-way pair between W Pleasant Street and W Liberty Street
		49.3	79.3	SR 59 west / Great River Road south (W Liberty Avenue) – Duvall Landing	Northern end of SR 59 overlap
		50.4	81.1	SR 384 south (Industrial Road) – Downtown Covington	Northern terminus of SR 384; truck route to SR 54 east
Tipton–Lauderdale county line		54.7– 54.9	88.0– 88.4	Mark Anthony Walker Bridge over the Hatchie River
Lauderdale		56.4– 56.5	90.8– 90.9	SR 209 north (S Main Street) – Henning, Alex Haley Museum	Southern terminus of SR 209
	Henning	58.0	93.3	SR 87 (Graves Avenue) / Great River Road north – Fort Pillow, Henning, Fort Pillow State Historic Park, Alex Haley Museum and Interpretive Center
	Ripley	61.9	99.6	SR 19 east – Ripley Business District, Brownsville	Southern end of SR 19 overlap
		63.7	102.5	SR 19 west / Great River Road south (Lake Drive) – Ripley	North end of SR 19 overlap; interchange
		64.5	103.8	SR 208 south (Cleveland Street) – Ripley	Northern terminus of SR 208
		72.0	115.9	SR 180 south (Gates Road) – Gates	Northern terminus of SR 180
	Halls	75.0– 75.3	120.7– 121.2	SR 88 / Great River Road north – Halls, Mississippi River	Interchange
Dyer	Fowlkes	79.9	128.6	Bridge over the South Fork of the Forked Deer River
	Fowlkes	82.1	132.1	To SR 210 – Fowlkes, Halls
	Dyersburg	83.9	135.0	Airport Road - Dyersburg Regional Airport
		84.2	135.5	US 51 Bus. north (S Main Avenue/SR 211) to US 412 east – Downtown Dyersburg	Interchange; southern terminus of US 51 Business and unsigned SR 211; truck route to SR 104 east
		85.5	137.6	Bridge over the North Fork of the Forked Deer River
		86.5	139.2	SR 104 (Forrest Street) – Finley, Trenton, Downtown Dyersburg
		88.5	142.4	SR 78 (Lake Road) to I-155 / US 412 – Tiptonville, Reelfoot Lake State Park, Dyersburg State Community College, Downtown Dyersburg
		90.2	145.2	US 51 Bus. south (Saint John Avenue/SR 211 south) – Dyersburg	South end of unsigned SR 211 overlap; northern terminus of US 51 Business
		91.7	147.6	US 412 east (SR 20 east) / SR 211 north (Saint John Avenue) to I-40 – Jackson, Newbern	Northern end of unsigned SR 211 overlap; southern end of US 412 overlap; south end of freeway; western terminus of unsigned SR 20; interchange
		92.1	148.2	I-155 west / US 412 west – St. Louis	North end of US 412 overlap; eastern terminus of I-155; I-155 exit 15
	Newbern	97.0– 97.7	156.1– 157.2	SR 77 east – Newbern	Western terminus of SR 77
Dyer–Obion county line		104.2– 104.8	167.7– 168.7	SR 105 east (County Line Street) – Trimble, Rutherford	Western terminus of SR 105
Obion	Obion	106.8– 106.9	171.9– 172.0	Bridge over the Obion River
	Obion	108.2– 108.7	174.1– 174.9	SR 183 (Palestine Avenue) – Obion
		113.6	182.8	SR 183 north (Davis Highway) – Obion	Northern end of freeway; at-grade intersection; southern terminus of SR 183
	Troy	113.9	183.3	S Main Street - Troy	Former US 51
		114.8	184.8	SR 21 west (W Harper Street) – Troy, Hornbeak, Tiptonville, Reelfoot Lake State Park	Southern end of SR 21 overlap
		115.3	185.6	SR 21 east (Rives Road) – Rives	Northern end of SR 21 overlap
		120.0– 120.4	193.1– 193.8	SR 690 north / Future I-69	A4 partial cloverleaf intercahnge; opened to traffic in February 2024^[8]
	Union City	122.0	196.3	SR 184 south (Old Troy Road)	Southern end of unsigned SR 184 concurrency; Former US 51
		122.2	196.7	SR 431 south (W Reelfoot Avenue/SR 184 north) to US 45W – Martin, Airport	Northern terminus of SR 431; northern end unsigned SR 184 concurrency
		123.0	197.9	SR 22 north / SR 5 (W Main Street) – Woodland Mills, Samburg, Reelfoot Lake, Reelfoot National Wildlife Refuge, Business District	Southern end of SR 22 overlap
		125.6	202.1	SR 21 (N Clover Street) – Clinton, KY, Union City
		127.1– 127.7	204.5– 205.5	US 45W south / SR 22 south (Section Line Road) – Union City, Martin	Northern end of SR 22 overlap; southern end of US 45W overlap; southern end of freeway; interchange; future I-169
		130.0	209.2	SR 690 south / Future I-69 south	Semi-directional T interchange; opened to traffic in February 2024; future southern end of I-69 overlap^[8]
	South Fulton	134.5	216.5	SR 214 west (Ken Tenn Highway)	Interchange; eastern terminus of SR 214; southbound exit and northbound entrance; northern end of freeway
		134.8	216.9	US 45 north (Chickasaw Drive/SR 3 north) / US 45E south (SR 215 east) – South Fulton, Martin	Northern end of US 45W and unsigned SR 3 overlap; southern end of unsigned SR 215 overlap; US 45W and US 45E merge to form US 45; southern end of freeway; interchange
		135.9	218.7	US 51 north / Purchase Parkway north – Fulton	Continuation into Kentucky; southern terminus of Purchase Parkway; western terminus of unsigned SR 215
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus Incomplete access Route transition

Dyersburg business route

U.S. Route 51 Business (US 51 Bus.) is a 3.9-mile-long (6.3 km) business route of US 51 located entirely in the city of Dyersburg in Dyer County. It has the unsigned designation of State Route 211 (SR 211) for its entire length.

The highway begins as South Main Avenue at a large three-way intersection with US 51/SR 3 on the southern edge of the city. It heads north, concurrent with SR 211, as a two-lane road through a business district before traveling through wooded areas and crossing a bridge over the North Fork of the Forked Deer River into downtown. US 51 Bus./SR 211 pass by the Dyer County Courthouse and becomes concurrent with SR 104 (East Court Street) as the road becomes North Main Avenue shortly before making an abrupt left turn onto McGaughey Street. US 51 Bus./SR 211 then split before heading through neighborhoods along Troy Avenue before turning right onto Gordon Street. The highway then makes a left turn onto North Sampson Avenue and passes through more neighborhoods before merging onto St. John Avenue. They then travel through a business district before widening to a four-lane highway and coming to an end at an intersection with US 51/SR 3, where US 51 Bus. ends and SR 211 follows northbound US 51/SR 3 north on St. John Avenue.

The entire route is in Dyersburg, Dyer County.

mi	km	Destinations	Notes
0.0	0.0	US 51 (51-Bypass South / SR 3) – Halls, Union City	Southern end of unsigned SR 211 concurrency; southern terminus of US 51 Bus. and SR 211
1.7	2.7	Bridge over the North Fork of the Forked Deer River
1.9	3.1	SR 104 east (East Court Street) – Trenton	Southern end of SR 104 concurrency
2.1	3.4	SR 104 west (McGaughey Street) – Finley	Northern end of SR 104 concurrency
3.9	6.3	US 51 (US 51 Bypass / Saint John Avenue / SR 3 / SR 211 north) to I-155 – Halls, Union City	Northern end of unsigned SR 211 concurrency; northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Tennessee Department of Transportation County Maps and City Maps
^ Tennessee Department of Transportation (24 January 2003). "State Highway and Interstate List 2003"
^ Haestad Methods, Inc., 13.9 Lateral Scour-The Hatchie River Bridge Failure
^ "National Transportation Safety Board; July 24, 1990 Letter to Gov. Ned McWherter" (PDF).
^ "TDOT". www.tn.gov.
^ "Memphis-Evansville Section Details". I69Info.com. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
^ Choate, Charles (30 October 2023). "Obion County Joint Economic Development Chairman Talks About Future I-69 Loop". Thunderbolt Radio. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Obion County Mayor Explains 690 Road Signage on New Project". Thunderbolt Radio. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
^ Staff, WBBJ (2024-02-20). "TDOT: Mainline of SR 690, future I-69 to open Wednesday in Obion County". WBBJ TV. Retrieved 2024-02-24.

External links

Media related to U.S. Route 51 in Tennessee at Wikimedia Commons

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U.S. Route 51
Previous state: Mississippi	Tennessee	Next state: Kentucky

[maps-1] Tennessee Department of Transportation County Maps and City Maps

[SHIL-2] Tennessee Department of Transportation (24 January 2003). "State Highway and Interstate List 2003"

[3] Haestad Methods, Inc., 13.9 Lateral Scour-The Hatchie River Bridge Failure

[4] "National Transportation Safety Board; July 24, 1990 Letter to Gov. Ned McWherter" (PDF).

[I697-5] "TDOT". www.tn.gov.

[I69info-6] "Memphis-Evansville Section Details". I69Info.com. Retrieved October 9, 2014.

[7] Choate, Charles (30 October 2023). "Obion County Joint Economic Development Chairman Talks About Future I-69 Loop". Thunderbolt Radio. Retrieved 13 December 2023.

[TN690-8] "Obion County Mayor Explains 690 Road Signage on New Project". Thunderbolt Radio. Retrieved 11 December 2023.

[9] Staff, WBBJ (2024-02-20). "TDOT: Mainline of SR 690, future I-69 to open Wednesday in Obion County". WBBJ TV. Retrieved 2024-02-24.

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