Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

has developed into a major Mid-American commercial and transportation hub because of its location on the Mississippi River and a convergence of numerous rail and highway links. Four rail and highway bridges cross the Mississippi River at Memphis. In addition,

Memphis International Airport Memphis International Airport is a civil-military airport located southeast of Downtown Memphis in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. It is the primary international airport serving Memphis. It covers and has four runways., effective A ...

has become the world's largest airfreight terminal. Travel and shipment of freight are facilitated by two major Interstate highways,

I-40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

and

I-55 Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The h ...

, that intersect at Memphis. I-240 is a highway spur that carries traffic around the city. A large volume of railroad freight traffic moves through Memphis, thanks to two Mississippi River railroad crossings and the convergence at Memphis of east–west with north–south rail routes. In addition, Memphis is the second busiest cargo

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

on the Mississippi River. Local public transportation in the Memphis area is provided by the

Memphis Area Transit Authority The Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) is the public transportation provider for Memphis, Tennessee. It is one of the largest transit providers in the state of Tennessee; MATA transports customers in the City of Memphis and parts of Shelby Co ...

Highways

Interstates

Interstate 40 (I-40), its spur highway I-240 and

are the main freeways in the Memphis area. I-40 and I-55 (along with rail lines) cross the Mississippi at Memphis from the state of

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

I-22 I22 or I 22 may refer to: * Interstate 22 Interstate 22 (I-22) is a Interstate Highway in the US states of Mississippi and Alabama, connecting I-269 near Byhalia, Mississippi, to I-65 near Birmingham, Alabama. I-22 is also Corridor X of ...

connects the southeast part of Memphis with

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. I-269 is an outer

beltway A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

around the city, partially in Mississippi. Future

I-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 ...

is planned for the Memphis area.

U.S. Highways

Memphis is served by seven primary U.S. highways, more than any other city in the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

. * U.S. Route 51 (US 51) enters Memphis from the south along with SR 3 as Elvis Presley Boulevard. The road changes names to Bellevue Boulevard before meeting Union Avenue. US 51 continues along Union Avenue to Danny Thomas Boulevard, which eventually changes into Thomas Street. The route then heads north towards Millington. * US 61 enters the city from the south along with SR 14 as Third Street. The highway travels to E.H. Crump Boulevard, turning west and eventually crossing the

Memphis & Arkansas Bridge The Memphis & Arkansas Bridge, also known as the Memphis–Arkansas Bridge or inaccurately as the Memphis–Arkansas Memorial Bridge, is a cantilevered through truss bridge carrying Interstate 55 across the Mississippi River between West Memphis ...

. * US 64 enters with Interstate 55 (I-55) on the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge, traveling along various streets until eventually heading east from the city along Stage Road towards Somerville. * US 70 and US 79 travel concurrently in the entirety of the city, traveling from the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge along various streets until eventually meeting Summer Avenue. The two highways continue to the northeast, paralleling

towards Brownsville. * US 72 travels through Memphis along Poplar Avenue, one of the city's main roads. It leaves the city at the city limits of

Germantown Germantown or German Town may refer to: Places Australia * Germantown, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region United States * Germantown, California, the former name of Artois, a census-designated place in Glenn County * Ge ...

. * US 78 leaves the city traveling to the southeast. The west end o
US 78
begins in Memphis on Linden Avenue at the intersection of 2nd Street. As it leaves Memphis, US 78 follows Lamar Avenue, historically known as ''Pigeon Roost Road'' for the nestings of

passenger pigeon The passenger pigeon or wild pigeon (''Ectopistes migratorius'') is an extinct species of pigeon that was endemic to North America. Its common name is derived from the French word ''passager'', meaning "passing by", due to the migratory habits ...

s formerly in the vicinity.

Railroad

A large volume of railroad freight traffic moves through Memphis, thanks to two Mississippi River railroad crossings and the convergence of east–west rail routes with north–south routes. Memphis had two major rail passenger stations,

Memphis Union Station Memphis Union Station was a passenger terminal in Memphis, Tennessee. It served as a hub between railroads of the Southwest, the Missouri Pacific Railroad and the St. Louis Southwestern Railway, and railroads of the Southeast, the Louisville an ...

, razed in early 1969, and

Memphis Central Station Memphis Central Station, referred to as Grand Central Station prior to 1944, is a passenger terminal in Memphis, Tennessee. Located along Main Street and G.E. Patterson Boulevard in Downtown Memphis, it currently a service stop for Amtrak's ''Cit ...

, which has been renovated. The Central Station renovation was completed in November 1999.

''City of New Orleans''

Central Station serves

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

's ''

City of New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. Amtrak Train 59, the southbound ''City of New Orleans'', is scheduled to depart Memphis at 6:50am daily with service to Greenwood, Yazoo City,

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

, Hazlehurst, Brookhaven, McComb, Hammond, and

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. Amtrak Train 58, the northbound ''City of New Orleans'', is scheduled to depart Memphis at 10:40pm daily with service to Newbern-Dyersburg, Fulton, Carbondale, Centralia, Effingham, Mattoon, Champaign-Urbana, Kankakee, Homewood, and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Freight

Five

Class I railroads In the United States, railroad carriers are designated as Class I, II, or III, according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportation Board in 1992. With annual adjustments for inflation, the 2019 thresholds were US$5 ...

operate in Memphis: Union Pacific (UP), Norfolk Southern (NS), Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF), CSX Transportation (CSXT), and Canadian National (CN). Short-line railroad RJ Corman also owns track branching off of BNSF's Memphis Intermodal Facility. Memphis Intermodal Facility - Tennessee Yard is one of ten freight rail facilities located in Memphis. The others are Leewood Yard (CSXT), Sargent Yard (UP), Forrest Yard (NS), Yale Yard (BNSF), Harrison (Johnson) Yard (CN), CN supply chain solutions, Port of Memphis (CN), and Intermodal Gateway (CN, CSXT). Of these facilities, the only ones capable of loading and unloading

containers A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

are Forrest Yard, Intermodal Gateway, and Memphis Intermodal Facility.

Public transportation

The

(MATA) provides the area with scheduled city bus service and with

paratransit Paratransit is the term used in North America, also known by other names such as community transport ( UK) for transportation services that supplement fixed-route mass transit by providing individualized rides without fixed routes or timetables. ...

service for persons with disabilities. Three express bus lines were added in 2008 to provide service into

Downtown Memphis Downtown Memphis, Tennessee is the central business district of Memphis, Tennessee and is located along the Mississippi River between Interstate 40 to the north, Interstate 55 to the south and I-240 to the east, where it abuts Midtown Memphis. It ...

from outer suburbs. MATA also operates a heritage trolley system in Downtown Memphis with 24 stations along three lines. The trolley system is in the process of expanding into a regional system. There is also a

monorail A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and " rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurat ...

known as the Memphis Suspension Railway, which connects the city to

Mud Island Mud Island is a small peninsula located in Memphis, Tennessee. It is bordered by the Mississippi River to the west and the Wolf River and Harbor Town to the east. Mud Island River Park is located within the Memphis city limits, 1.2 miles fr ...

Airports

, which handled more cargo than any other airport in the world until 2010, is Memphis's sole commercial airport. It remains the busiest cargo airport in the United States as of 2018. The airport is the international cargo hub for FedEx and was a passenger hub for

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along w ...

after their merger with

Northwest Airlines Northwest Airlines Corp. (NWA) was a major American airline founded in 1926 and absorbed into Delta Air Lines, Inc. by a merger. The merger, approved on October 29, 2008, made Delta the largest airline in the world until the American Airlines ...

in 2008. Other passenger airlines providing service to the airport are

Allegiant Air Allegiant Air (usually shortened to Allegiant) is an ultra low-cost U.S. carrier that operates scheduled and charter flights. It is a major air carrier, the fourteenth-largest commercial airline in North America. Allegiant was founded in 1 ...

, American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines. The Tennessee Air National Guard operates the 164th Airlift Wing at the airport. Memphis is also served by multiple general aviation (GA) airports. General DeWitt Spain Airport, General Dewitt Spain Airport, located about 4 miles from Downtown Memphis, is the only one within city limits. The other GA airports are West Memphis Municipal Airport (about 10 mi from Downtown), Charles W. Baker Airport (about 11 mi from Downtown), Millington-Memphis Airport (about 17 mi from Downtown), and Olive Branch Airport (about 18 mi from Downtown).

Mississippi River port

The Port of Memphis, International Port of Memphis is the 2nd biggest cargo

on the Mississippi River (the 4th biggest inland port in the United States). The International Port of Memphis covers the Tennessee and

sides of the Mississippi River from river mile 725 (km 1167) to mile 740 (km 1191). At 15 mi (24 km) long, it has 68 water fronted facilities, 37 of which are terminal facilities for moving products from shore to ship or vice versa. It is 400 mi (644 km) downriver from St. Louis, Missouri and 600 mi (966 km) upriver from New Orleans.

Mississippi River bridges

Memphis, Harahan, and Hernando de Soto Bridges

Four rail and highway bridges cross the Mississippi River at Memphis. They are, in order of their opening: the Frisco Bridge, the Harahan Bridge, the

and the Hernando de Soto Bridge. The piers of the first three bridges had to be lined up for river navigation as they were built side by side at a narrow point in the river.

Frisco Bridge

The Frisco Bridge (May 12, 1892) was the longest bridge in North America when it opened and was originally called the ''Great Bridge at Memphis''. This cantilever truss steel railroad bridge was built between 1888–1892. It was designed by George S. Morison, who also designed the Taft Bridge in Washington, D.C.

Harahan Bridge

The Harahan Bridge (July 14, 1916) is a trestle railroad bridge originally built with narrow, one-way wooden cantilevered roadways along the outsides so it could be used for cars. In 1928, sparks from a train ignited and set fire to one of the wooden plank roads. At present only trains use the Harahan Bridge, but a pedestrian walkway and bike path was completed in fall 2016.

Memphis & Arkansas Bridge

The

(December 17, 1949), carries Interstate 55 and has a pedestrian walkway. The bridge was built between 1945–1949 and is the longest Warren truss- style bridge in the United States. It is listed on the National Historic Register.

Hernando de Soto Bridge

The Hernando de Soto Bridge (August 2, 1973) with its steel arches carries Interstate 40. In 1986, "M" shaped lights became part of the bridge and a Memphis landmark. The Guinness Book of World Records lists the de Soto bridge for its unique structural "letter" shape. In 2001 the mysterious disappearance and death of Harvard University biophysicist Don Wiley, whose abandoned car was found on the bridge, brought the Hernando de Soto Bridge national headlines. The de Soto bridge once again made national headlines in May 2021, when a crack developed in one of the bridge trusses. The bridge was closed for 3.5 months as repairs were made and fully reopened on August 3, 2021.

Bridges overview

References

{{Memphis, Tennessee Transportation in Memphis, Tennessee, Transportation in the United States by city, Memphis, Tennessee