I-440 Pothole Patching Could Be Finished This Week

NASHVILLE, TN -- Our long Nashville nightmare could soon be over. For awhile.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation says the pothole-filling project on Interstate 440 could be complete by week's end. Just in time for a major, three-year overhaul of the infamous ring road set to begin later this year.

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The notoriously pockmarked thoroughfare, with its unusual concrete surface never designed to handle commercial truck traffic, has been the bane of drivers and the butt of jokes for nearly three decades. Its potholes are such a part of the shared experience that when Mayor David Briley asked a woman injured in the Antioch Waffle House if there was anything he could do for her, she told him to do something about 440's potholes.

In addition to the pothole patching, about 50 percent of 440 will be repaved as part of this project, all in preparation for the broader, major reconstruction. TDOT said the road needed to be repaved before the reconstruction because this year's pothole-ocalypse raised worries that the 440 would not be able to withstand the additional stress of heavy road equipment.

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