State Route 385 is the designation for two separate segments of state highway in the Memphis Metropolitan Area in Shelby county in West Tennessee, which with Interstate 269 forms a semicircle around and through the Memphis suburbs. The route is constructed to Interstate-compatible freeway standards with full control of access throughout. The southern segment is notable for its almost-exclusive use of single-point urban interchanges. Much of the eastern side of the loop was redesignated as I-269 by the Tennessee Department of Transportation in 2018. It is expected that the I-269 designation will be extended to the northern terminus of the highway, and the SR 385 designation truncated at I-269 in Collierville in the future.
History
Paul W. Barret Parkway
The first section of SR 385 built was the section of Paul W. Barret Parkway built between US 51 and SR 204 in Millington, completed around 1982. On September 25, 1998, a section of Paul Barret Parkway opened from SR 204 to US 70/79.
The Bill Morris Parkway section of SR 385 was conceived in 1969. The project was one of six major freeway projects, referred to at the time as "Bicentennial Parkways", that was initiated by the passage of the Better Roads Program in 1986 by the Tennessee General Assembly. This segment was initially referred to as the "Nonconnah Parkway." The first contract, for the segment between I-240 and Ridgeway Road in East Memphis was awarded on August 3, 1990 at a cost of $44.7 million. This segment opened on December 24, 1993 to eastbound traffic and January 15, 1994 to westbound traffic. The route was extended to Riverdale Road and opened on December 22, 1995. The portion from Riverdale Road to Houston Levee Road opened on December 29, 1997. The extension to Byhalia Road opened in October 1999. The segment between Byhalia Road and US 72 was completed on November 21, 2000. Work began on the extension to SR 57 in June 2003, and this section opened on August 23, 2007.
The segment of Interstate 269 between I-40 and what is now the eastern terminus of Bill Morris Parkway was originally signed as part of SR 385. The last section of this part opened on November 22, 2013. In 2018, portions of this segment were redesignated as I-269.
