Closures This Weekend on I-40 and I-65

Nashville, Tenn.—The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) announced today construction work on two Nashville interstates that will result in the closure of a portion of I-40 east of Nashville and a reduction in lanes along I-65 north of Nashville. This weekend, I-40 East and Westbound between the I-24/40 Split (mm-213) and Briley Parkway (mm-215) will be closed from Saturday, March 12 at 4:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. Sunday, March 13. The closure is the fourth in a series of blasts necessary to remove a rock bluff located at the center of the split.

“This weekend’s blast will be very similar to the February 26th weekend blast,” said TDOT’s Chief Engineer, Paul Degges. “We will be covering a much larger demolition area, which requires us to close the interstate for 2 days. By doing the larger blast we hope to reduce the number of weekends that will require a complete closure of I-40 later this spring.”

Eastbound I-40 traffic will be detoured onto I-24 East to Briley Parkway northbound. Motorists traveling from I-65 north of Nashville or I-40 west of Nashville are advised to take I-65 South to I-440 East to I-24 East to Briley Parkway northbound, where they can access I-40 east of the closure.

Westbound I-40 traffic will be detoured onto Briley Parkway southbound to I-24 West.

Motorists bound for Nashville International Airport are urged to leave early and seek an alternate route, such as Donelson Pike, Murfreesboro Road or Lebanon Pike.

Message boards will be displayed at the airport and several locations along I-40, I-440, I-24 and Briley Parkway to alert travelers and to help detour them around the closure. Metro Police Officers will also be in place to assist motorists with the detour.

TDOT estimates that close to 120,000 vehicles use I-40 between the I-24 split and the Briley Parkway interchange each day.

“This weekend we will again be removing close to 9,000 cubic yards of rock from the bluff, so, for safety reasons we can not allow traffic in this area during the blast.” Degges said.

Motorists should also be alert to a reduction in lanes along Interstate 65 north of Nashville at the Old Hickory Boulevard interchange. Beginning Friday, March 11 at 10:00 p.m. I-65 North and Southbound will be reduced to one lane for work on the Old Hickory Boulevard Bridge. At 4:00 a.m. Saturday, March 12, one lane will be reopened, allowing two lanes of traffic on I-65 in both directions. This one lane closure will remain in effect until approximately 8:00 p.m. Sunday, March 13.