Site Navigation Alabama Florida Georgia Louisiana Mississippi North Carolina South Carolina Tennessee     Interstate 40 West - Knoxville vicinity Interstate 40 West The next westbound interchange of Interstate 40 is that of the Exit 392 partial cloverleaf interchange. Crossing paths with the east-west freeway here is U.S. 11W (Rutledge Pike). One half mile to the south of Interstate 40, the split components of U.S. 11 merge together at Magnolia Avenue. Photo taken 08/23/03. The Interstate 640 eastbound on-ramp to Interstate 40 westbound becomes the exit-only lane for Exit 392B (U.S. 11W northbound). Pictured here is the approach to the Exit 392 junction near the Spring Hill Road overpass. The southbound cloverleaf ramp (Exit 392A) facilitates traffic from Interstate 40 to the Knoxville Zoological Gardens and County Fairground. Photo taken 08/23/03. Interstate 40 westbound at the Cherry Street diamond interchange (Exit 390). Cherry Street constitutes a north-south surface avenue between U.S. 11 (Magnolia Avenue) and Cecil Avenue. The avenue serves the Park City and Plantation Hills neighborhoods of the city. Photo taken 08/23/03. Interstate 40 narrows to two westbound lanes through the Exit 389 & 388 confluence with U.S. 441 and Tennessee 158 (James White Parkway). The third westbound lane defaults onto Exit 389A for the U.S. 441 Broadway Connector. U.S. 441 cuts a swath along North Broadway Street through the Lincoln Park and North Knoxville neighborhoods through to the Exit 6 interchange of Interstate 640 & U.S. 25E. The SmartFix40 construction project will change the Exit 389B/A interchange from a directional-cloverleaf into a diamond interchange. Portions of this project are already completed as of November 2007, with the extension of Hall of Fame Drive northward from Tennessee 158 (James White Parkway) to the new Exit 389 diamond interchange. Reconstruction of Interstate 40 from Cherry Street west to Interstate 275 will expand the freeway overall to six lanes. This work includes a 14-month closure of the freeway between May 2008 and June 2009. Photo taken 08/23/03. Turning southward along Interstate 40 westbound at the Exit 388A junction with Tennessee 158 (James White Parkway). Although omitted from guide signs, Tennessee 158 follows the northern reaches of the James White Parkway southward to Tennessee 71 and the Downtown Loop. The routing constitutes a freeway between Interstate 40 and the riverfront near U.S. 441. U.S. 441 itself maintains a routing along surface avenues via Broadway and Henley Streets. Tennessee 158 transitions into Neyland Drive along the Tennessee River to the University of Tennessee campus. Completed on September 21, 2007 was the James White Parkway reconstruction project that completely rebuilt the freeway from Interstate 40 south to junction Tennessee 71. This project represents Phase II over the overall SmartFix40 construction. Photo taken 08/23/03. The ramps to/from Interstate 40 and the eastern terminus of Tennessee 158 constituted a tri-level stack interchange originally - the interchange is being rebuilt as part of the SmartFix40 project. In conjunction with Tennessee 71 (James White Parkway), Tennessee 158 forms a freeway between Interstate 40 and the south Knoxville over the Tennessee River. Tennessee 71 begins one mile to the south from Tennessee 158 west. Photo taken 08/23/03. Continuing westward, Interstate 40 enters the northern fringes of the Knoxville central business district. Below the freeway travels U.S. 441 (North Broadway Street) and U.S. 11 & 70 (Magnolia Avenue). Ahead is the southern terminus of the Interstate 275 urban loop (Exit 387A). Interstate 275 links downtown Knoxville with the Interstate 75 & 640 (Exit 3) merge to the north. The Interstate 40 viaduct leading into the Interstate 275 interchange will be torn down and rebuilt to accommodate six overall through lanes as part of the SmartFix40 project. Photo taken 08/23/03. A remnant ghost ramp appears on the western side of the Interstate 40 viaduct over the Norfolk-Southern Railroad line between U.S. 441 and Interstate 275. The stub ramp remains from a removed on-ramp that carried traffic onto Interstate 40 westbound from Magnolia Avenue (U.S. 11 & 70) below. Reconstruction of the Interstate 40 & 275 junction necessitated the removal of this feature. Photo taken 08/23/03. West of the stub ramp, Interstate 40 westbound returns to three lanes of capacity. Six lanes of freeway are maintained from the Interstate 275 southern terminus westward to Interstate 75 & 640. Displayed in the photograph is the Exit 387A departure of the northbound beginning of Interstate 275. The 2.98 mile Interstate represents the original alignment of Interstate 75 through Knoxville. Interstate 75 originally followed Interstate 40 east of Interstate 640 to Exit 387A, turning northward along Interstate 275 for an exit of the city. The freeway saw realignment to an overlap with Interstate 640 in an effort to remove excess through traffic from the downtown Knoxville freeway system. Photo taken 08/23/03. A pair of lanes join westbound Interstate 40 from Interstate 275 southbound. Both of these depart ahead at the Exit 387 (Tennessee State Secondary 62) and Exit 386B (U.S. 129 southbound) interchanges. Interstate 40 travels underneath Western Avenue (Tennessee SSR 62) before yielding a loop ramp onto Unaka Street for Western Avenue & 17th Streets. There is no direct access to Exit 387 in the eastern direction, nor is there a return ramp to Interstate 40 west. Photo taken 08/23/03. Interstate 40 westbound scoots above the local street grid below along a viaduct near the Exit 386B directional interchange with U.S. 129. The junction between Interstate 40 and the northern terminus of U.S. 129 (Alcoa Highway) features high speed ramps and was rebuilt in the late 1990s. U.S. 129 links the city with Maryville (pop. 23,120) to the south. Photo taken 08/23/03. Interstate 40 expands to eight overall lanes between U.S. 129 and the Interstate 75 & 640 junction of Exit 385. The freeway travels over University Avenue and nearby railroad tracks between U.S. 129 and the Interstate 640 western terminus. Photo taken 08/23/03. Traffic to Interstate 75 north & Interstate 640 eastbound depart Interstate 40 westbound in this scene. The two highways share a three mile overlap to Interstate 275 northwest reaches of the city. The directional interchange between the two highways represents the western beginning of an 18 mile overlap of Interstate 40 & 75 between Knoxville and Eaton Crossroad. Photo taken 08/23/03. Page Updated April 2, 2008.