[6][7] Carrying between four and six lanes for its remaining length in Tennessee, I-55 first crosses a series of railroads serving an industrial area to the north, and has a three-level cloverstack interchange with US 61 (Third Street).

Traveling northeastward for a brief distance, the Interstate reaches a cloverleaf interchange with US 61/64/70/78/79 (Crump Boulevard) currently in the process of being reconstructed, where it begins a concurrency with these routes.

Here, the freeway turns directly westward, and northbound traffic must navigate a loop ramp through this interchange to stay on I-55.

Preliminary planning was delayed by the Great Depression, and did not begin until the creation of the joint Memphis and Arkansas Bridge committee on March 14, 1939.

This committee was headed by then-Memphis mayor and political boss E. H. Crump, and included Congressman Walter Chandler and U.S.

[14] The plans also included a new street leading up to the bridge bypassing both Downtown Memphis and historic African American neighborhoods to the south.

[19] Three years later, a plan produced by the Public Roads Administration of the now-defunct Federal Works Agency recommended the freeway cross the Mississippi River in Memphis into Arkansas, and run through St. Louis before reaching Chicago.

[24] The section between the Mississippi state line and US 51/Brooks Road was awarded in two smaller segments on June 26, 1959, and October 30, 1959, and was opened to traffic on December 2, 1961.

[32] As traffic volumes grew, the cloverleaf interchange with Crump Boulevard gradually became inadequate, leading to congestion and a high accident rate.

[33] In June 2021, a second lane was added for the I-55 southbound ramp in response to increased traffic resulting from the Hernando de Soto Bridge closure.

[35] Two initial plans were developed that would have required the demolition of eight homes in the predominately African American French Fort neighborhood, but after input from residents, two additional designs were created to shift the I-55 lanes to the east in order to avoid this.

[36][37] These designs also included a roundabout between Crump Boulevard, Riverside Drive, and Alson Avenue at the location of the cloverleaf interchange.

[39] The final design includes construction of a flyover bridge to carry I-55 traffic through the interchange, with ramps providing access to the roundabout.

In addition, the interchange with Metal Museum Drive will be eliminated, a new Wisconsin Street overpass will be constructed, noise walls will be erected, and the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge will be repaired.

[40][41] The project which was expected to cost $32.4 million in 2014, was first delayed that year due to a shortage of federal transportation funds.

[42] On May 27, 2015, TDOT announced plans to close the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge for nine months as part of the project, beginning in early 2017.

[43] This drew considerable backlash from residents, businesses, and government officials in the Memphis area, prompting TDOT to reconsider their plans for construction and further delay the project.

[43] On July 24, 2015, TDOT announced that they would no longer pursue a long-term closure of the bridge, and would conduct more detailed studies on how to implement construction over the next year.

In addition, the need to eventually replace the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge on I-55 has been recognized, due to its age and the fact that it does not meet Interstate Highway standards.

In 2006, TDOT commissioned a feasibility study on the possibility of constructing an additional bridge across the Mississippi River in Memphis.

[55] This project reportedly faded away due to cost and an inability of the communities in the Memphis area to agree on a location for the bridge.

[59] On April 17, 2023, Governor Bill Lee signed into law the Transportation Modernization Act, which provides increased funding for highway projects in Tennessee.

[61] On December 4, 2023, TDOT and ARDOT jointly submitted an application for a grant under the BIP to replace the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge.

[67][68] An extension of Interstate 69 through Tennessee was proposed under the 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) as part of a corridor to facilitate trade between Canada and Mexico.

[69] This extension, sometimes considered part of the unofficial NAFTA superhighway, was proposed to utilize the section of I-55 between the Mississippi border and I-240, and continue north along that route.

[79][80] I-155 is an auxiliary Interstate Highway that begins at a junction with I-55 in southeast Missouri, and crosses the Mississippi River on the Caruthersville Bridge into northwest Tennessee, before terminating in Dyersburg, about 80 miles (130 km) north of Memphis.