U.S. Route 51 in Tennessee

Infobox road
state=TN
route=51
type=US
alternate_name=Tennessee State Route 3
maint=

---

length_mi=135.90
length_round=2
length_ref=Tennessee Department of Transportation [http://www.tdot.state.tn.us/Maps/county/default.htm County Maps] and [http://www.tdot.state.tn.us/Maps/city/ City Maps] ]
established=
direction_a=South
starting_terminus= State Line
junction=

direction_b=North
ending_terminus= State Line
counties=Shelby, Tipton, Lauderdale, Dyer, Obion
cities=Memphis, Millington, Covington, Ripley, Dyersburg, Troy, Union City, South Fulton
previous_type=Dual
previous_route=2
next_type=Dual
next_route=4

U.S. Route 51, mostly overlapped by the unsigned State Route 3 (SR 3), is a north-south state highway in the U.S. state of Tennessee, that is 135.9 miles (218.71 km) longTennessee Department of Transportation (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 mileposts.

The two places where US 51 and SR 3 differ are in Memphis, where US 51 has been moved to Danny Thomas Boulevard (State Route 1 / State Route 4), while SR 3 remains on the one-way pair of 2nd and 3rd Streets, and in South Fulton, where US 51 crosses the state line on State Route 215 to the Purchase Parkway, while SR 3 remains on the old road, now U.S. Route 45.

Route description

US 51 enters Tennessee at Memphis and runs north through the cities of Millington, Covington, Henning, Ripley, Halls, Dyersburg, Troy, Union City, and South Fulton. 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 70MPH speed limit.

Near Henning is also the site of the Hatchie River Bridge collapse on April 1, 1989 that killed 8 motorists when 3 spans of the structure collapsed. The 54-year old bridge was 45 miles 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. [ [http://www.haestad.com/library/books/FMRAS/FloodplainOnlineBook/javascript/wwhelp/wwhimpl/common/html/wwhelp.htm?context=Floodplain_with_HEC_RAS&file=Floodplain%20with%20HEC-RAS-22-10.html Haestad Methods, Inc., 13.9 Lateral Scour-The Hatchie River Bridge Failure] ] [ [http://www.ntsb.gov/recs/letters/1990/H90_73.pdf National Transporation Safety Board; July 24, 1990 Letter to Gov. Ned McWherter] ]

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

Counties traversed (south to north)

US 51 traverses the counties shown in the table below.

References