U.S. Route 51 (US 51), mostly overlapped by the

unsigned Unsigned can refer to: * An unsigned artist is a musical artist or group not attached or signed to a record label ** Unsigned Music Awards, ceremony noting achievements of unsigned artists ** Unsigned band web, online community * Similarly, the c ...

State Route 3 (SR 3), is a north–south

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, that is 135.9 miles (218.71 km) long, completely within

West Tennessee West Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions (Tennessee), Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that roughly comprises the western quarter of the state. The region includes 21 counties between the Tennessee River, Tennessee and Miss ...

Tennessee Department of Transportation The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) is a multimodal agency with statewide responsibilities in roadways, aviation, public transit, waterways, and railroads. The mission of TDOT is to provide a safe and reliable transportation syste ...

(24 January 2003). "State Highway and Interstate List 2003" It begins in Shelby County and ends in Obion County. The SR 3 designation is seen largely on

milepost A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...

s. The two places where US 51 and SR 3 differ are in

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

, where US 51 has been moved to Danny Thomas Boulevard ( State Route 1 /

State Route 4 Route 4, or Highway 4, may refer to several highways in the following countries: International * AH4, Asian Highway 4 * European route E04 * European route E004 * Cairo – Cape Town Highway Albania * SH-4 road in Albania from Durres to Kakav ...

), while SR 3 remains on the

one-way pair A one-way pair, one-way couple, or couplet refers to that portion of a bi-directional traffic facilitysuch as a road, bus, streetcar, or light rail linewhere its opposing flows exist as two independent and roughly parallel facilities. Descriptio ...

of 2nd and 3rd Streets, and in South Fulton, where US 51 crosses the state line on State Route 215 to the

Purchase Parkway The Julian M. Carroll Purchase Parkway is a controlled-access highway in the US state of Kentucky running from Fulton to Mayfield, near Kentucky Dam, for a length of . It begins at the Tennessee state line concurrent with U.S. Route 51 (US ...

, while SR 3 remains on the old road, now

U.S. Route 45 U.S. Route 45 (US 45) is a major north-south United States highway and a border-to-border route, from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico. A sign at the highway's northern terminus notes the total distance as . US 45 is notable for incorporatin ...

Route description

US 51 enters Tennessee at

and runs north through the cities of Millington, Munford, Atoka,

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, Covington, Henning, Ripley, Halls,

Dyersburg Dyersburg is a city and the county seat of Dyer County, Tennessee, United States. It is located in northwest Tennessee, northeast of Memphis on the Forked Deer River. The population was 16,164 at the 2020 census, down 5.72% from the 2010 census ...

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

, Union City, and South Fulton. This highway crosses four

interstate highway The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...

s 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 The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these hi ...

in the State of Tennessee. US 51 is an

interstate standard Standards for Interstate Highways in the United States are defined by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in the publication ''A Policy on Design Standards: Interstate System''. For a certain highway to ...

facility 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 speed limit. Near Henning is also the site of the

Hatchie River The Hatchie River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed June 3, 2011 river in northern Mississippi and southwestern Tennessee. It is of considerable geographic, cultural, a ...

Bridge collapse on April 1, 1989 that killed 8 motorists when 3 spans of the structure collapsed. The 54-year-old bridge was 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. 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 The Great River Road is a collection of state and local roads that follow the course of the Mississippi River through ten states of the United States. They are Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Miss ...

designation from US 64/ US 70/ US 79 in Memphis to SR 88 in Halls.

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 upgraded to four lane expressway in the 1960s.

Future

Most of US 51 north of Dyersburg is expected to be upgraded as part of future

Interstate 69 Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States currently consisting of 10 unconnected segments with an original continuous segment from Indianapolis, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian border in Port Huron, Michigan, at ...

. Plans currently call for Interstate 69 to run along the existing US 51

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

from Dyersburg to Troy and from Union City to South Fulton. This section is part of SIU 7 for Interstate 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 Interstate 69 is completed.

Major intersections

Dyersburg business route

U.S. Route 51 Business (US 51 Bus.) is a

business route A business route (or business loop, business spur, or city route) in the United States is a short special route connected to a ''parent'' numbered highway at its beginning, then routed through the central business district of a nearby city or ...

of US 51 located entirely in the city of

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 A three-way junction (or three-way intersection) is a type of road intersection with three arms. A Y junction (or Y intersection) generally has three arms of equal size coming at an acute or obtuse angle to each other; while a T junction (or T ...

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 The North Fork of the Forked Deer River is formed in Gibson County to the south of Chapel Hill Road near Medina and flows to the northwest before entering Dyer County. Here it accepts the flow from the Middle Fork and then joins with the South ...

into downtown. US 51 Bus./SR 211 pass by the Dyer County Courthouse and becomes

concurrent Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

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 In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their i ...

with US 51/SR 3, where US 51 Bus. ends and SR 211 follows northbound US 51/SR 3 north on St. John Avenue.

References

External links

* {{state detail page browse, type=US, route=51, statebefore=Mississippi, state=Tennessee, stateafter=Kentucky 51 Interstate 69 051 Transportation in Shelby County, Tennessee Transportation in Tipton County, Tennessee Transportation in Lauderdale County, Tennessee Transportation in Dyer County, Tennessee Transportation in Obion County, Tennessee Tennessee Freeways in Tennessee Transportation in Memphis, Tennessee