Interstate 240 (Tennessee)

Interstate 240 (I-240) is a 19.27-mile-long (31.01 km) auxiliary Interstate Highway in the US state of Tennessee that forms a bypass around the southern and eastern neighborhoods of Memphis. Combined, I-240 and its parent, I-40, form a contiguous beltway around most of Memphis. I-240 runs from I-40 in Midtown Memphis to I-40 and Sam Cooper Boulevard in East Memphis. Throughout its length, it provides access to I-55, multiple U.S. and state routes, and the Memphis International Airport. The segment between the western terminus and I-55 is a north–south route, and the segment between I-55 and the eastern terminus runs east to west. Throughout its length, I-240 is designated as the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway, the W.B. Fowler Sr. Expressway, and the Avron B. Fogelman Expressway.

The first sections of I-240 were opened in 1962, and the present-day route was completed in 1971. I-240 was first envisioned in the 1950s as a complete circular beltway around Memphis. The western segment between I-40 and I-55 was designated as I-255 until 1973, however. Citizen opposition to the routing of I-40 through Overton Park in the central part of Memphis resulted in I-40 being rerouted onto what was originally the northern loop of I-240 in 1981. As a result of this change, I-240's exits are still numbered according to their original mileage, which today is inconsistent with its length.