Arkansas, Tennessee Officials Seek Public Input on $900 million I-55 Kings’ Crossing Bridge

By the Arkansas Delta Informer Staff

Sept. 14, 2026 – The Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) and the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) will hold two meetings this week to determine the new design for the proposed $900 million Interstate 55 bridge over the Mississippi River, one of the busiest freight bridges in the U.S.

The first meeting will be held tomorrow (Tuesday, Sept. 15) at the Radisson Hotel at 2007 South Service Road in West Memphis. The second meeting will be held on Wednesday (Sept. 16) at the Central Station Hotel, 545 South Main Street, in downtown Memphis.

Both public meetings will run from 5-7 p.m., during which Arkansas and Tennessee highways will share information about the multi-million-dollar bridge construction project. They will also answer questions and seek public comments on the project’s design.

In July 2024, ARDOT and TDOT were jointly awarded a $393.7 million grant by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to use toward the replacement of the I-55 Bridge over the Mississippi River between West Memphis and Memphis, then calling the project “America’s River Crossing.”

Initially, ARDOT and TDOT were co-applicants for the grant to replace the aging 75-year-old bridge. The original grant was funded through the Bridge Investment Program, part of former President Biden’s $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, approved by Congress in November 2021.

According to ARDOT officials, the bridge funding from the Biden administration is the largest grant ever received by the state highway agency. Similarly, Tennessee highway officials have said the partnership with Arkansas is the single-largest transportation investment in that state’s history.

Arkansas and Tennessee highway officials have said the proposed project will replace the existing 75-year-old I-55 bridge that first opened in 1949 and was originally part of the U.S. 40 corridor.

The project will improve driving conditions, meet modern seismic code requirements, and address traffic flow and operations for local and regional motorists and travelers in the tri-state area. The new bridge will also serve as a critical connector for residents, workers, and freight moving between Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi, they said.

“Arkansas is where America’s road, river, and rail infrastructure meet. (This) announcement – the largest shared infrastructure project in our two states’ history – will help cement Arkansas’ status as a transportation and logistics leader while bringing more visitors to our state,” said Governor Sarah Sanders said when the project funding was announced over two years ago.

Overall, the project is estimated to cost about $900 million. In addition to the nearly $400 million investment from the federal Department of Transportation, ARDOT and TDOT have each committed up to $250 million.

Since the project’s funding was announced two years ago, the Tennessee General Assembly and the Arkansas Highway Commission have adopted a local name for the new I-55 bridge: Kings’ Crossing. That moniker honors three transformative figures known as “Kings”: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; B.B. King; and Elvis Presley.

Arkansas and Tennessee highway officials first held similar public meetings and hearings in April and November 2024. During those meetings, state highway representatives presented information on the bridge’s general location, major design features, and the social, economic, and environmental effects of the proposed project

Those original meetings also included information on the federal relocation assistance program, construction timetable, and other matters of public interest. The public was also invited to ask questions and make comments during the fall 2024 hearings.

The 1949 construction of the I-55 bridge replaced the narrow traffic lanes on the Harahan Bridge, built in 1916. The Tennessee-Arkansas Bridge carries I-55 across the Mississippi River and is the southernmost bridge in the Memphis area. In 2001, the bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

By 2050, the state-of-the-art I-55 Bridge is projected to handle about 64,000 vehicles daily, a significant increase from the current 48,000. According to Arkansas and Tennessee highway officials, construction is estimated to begin later this year.

TDOT and ARDOT are partnering to design and construct the bridge using the Construction Manager/General Contractor (CM/GC) project delivery method. The FHWA-approved CM/GC project delivery method allows state highway officials to engage a construction manager during the design process to provide input on constructability.

Washington, D.C.-based Parsons Transportation Group Inc. was selected in October 2024 to provide engineering and design services for the replacement bridge project. In March 2025, Kiewit Infrastructure South Co. was selected as the construction manager for the Kings’ Crossing project. Kiewit, based in Omaha, Neb., was also the construction manager for the largest infrastructure project in ARDOT’s history, the $633 million I-30 Crossing Project. That project, which started in 2020 and was completed in November 2024, reconstructed 4.7 miles of I-30 and I-40 in Little Rock and North Little Rock, from the I-630 interchange to the I-40 interchange – considered the state’s busiest traffic corridor.

According to Parson’s design plan, the replacement bridge will be a three-span cable-stayed structure with a 1,412-foot main span over the primary navigation channels at Kings’ Crossing. The bridge’s towers will be strategically positioned, with one on the Arkansas side of the river and the other on the Tennessee riverbank. To address the engineering challenges posed by the deep soils of the Mississippi embayment and proximity to the New Madrid Fault Zone, officials said an innovative asymmetrical span arrangement was developed.

This design will result in a 525-foot-tall tower in Arkansas and a 333-foot-tall tower in Tennessee. In addition, the freestanding, tapered pylons are engineered to improve seismic and wind performance while ensuring constructability.

The last time that ARDOT and TDOT partnered on a project occurred when the busy I-40 Hernando de Soto Bridge linking West Memphis to downtown Memphis suffered a major fracture in one of its 900‑foot tie girders on May 11, 2021. The crack was spotted during a routine inspection by Michael Baker International, a contractor for the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT), according to a 21-page report presented to then-Gov. Hutchinson and the Arkansas Legislature by ARDOT.

After the fracture was discovered, ARDOT and TDOT abruptly shut down the 3.3-mile steel tied-arch bridge spanning the Mississippi River for more than three months. The two state transportation departments, joint owners of the interstate bridge, then assembled a team of consultants and a contractor to inspect and repair it.

According to an ARDOT investigation and final report, the bridge fracture occurred in three phases over several years. That bridge, completed in 1973, is now being inspected twice a year with ultrasonic testing.

The Memphis metropolitan area, which extends into Arkansas and Mississippi, is widely recognized as America’s logistical hub because it sits at the geographic center of the continental U.S., where the Mississippi River, major rail corridors, and multiple interstate highways converge.

It is also home to the world’s largest cargo airport and FedEx’s global headquarters and superhub, making it the de facto U.S. capital of express shipping. 

To view a video about the proposed Kings’ Crossing bridge project, go here.