Editing Interstate 40 (section)

{{Short description|Interstate Highway across south-central US}}
{{redirect|I-40}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox road
| country = USA
| type = I
| route = 40
| map = {{maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|frame-align=center|frame-width=290|type=line|from=Interstate 40.map}}
| map_custom = yes
| length_mi = 2556.61
| length_ref = <ref name="log">{{cite web |first = Edward |last = Starks |url = https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/national_highway_system/interstate_highway_system/routefinder/table01.cfm |title = Table 1: Main Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways as of December 31, 2018 |publisher = [[Federal Highway Administration]] |date = May 6, 2019 |access-date = October 22, 2021 }}</ref>
| established = August 14, 1957<ref name="AASHO57">{{cite map |author = American Association of State Highway Officials |author-link = American Association of State Highway Officials |date = August 14, 1957 |title = Official Route Numbering for the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways |url = http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interstate_Highway_plan_August_14,_1957.jpg |scale = Scale not given |location = Washington, DC |publisher = American Association of State Highway Officials |access-date = March 27, 2017 |via = [[Wikimedia Commons]] }}</ref>
| direction_a = West
| terminus_a = {{jct|country=USA|I|15}} in [[Barstow, California|Barstow, CA]]
| junction =
*{{Jct|country=USA|I|17}} in [[Flagstaff, Arizona|Flagstaff, AZ]]
*{{Jct|country=USA|I|25}} in [[Albuquerque, New Mexico|Albuquerque, NM]]
*{{Jct|country=USA|I|27}} in [[Amarillo, Texas|Amarillo, TX]]
*{{jct|country=USA|I|35}} in [[Oklahoma City, Oklahoma|Oklahoma City, OK]]
*{{Jct|country=USA|I|30}} in [[North Little Rock, Arkansas|North Little Rock, AR]]
*{{Jct|country=USA|I|55}} in [[West Memphis, Arkansas|West Memphis, AR]]
*{{jct|country=USA|I|24|I|65}} in [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville, TN]]
*{{Jct|country=USA|I|75}} from [[Farragut, Tennessee|Farragut]] to [[Knoxville, Tennessee|Knoxville, TN]]
*{{nowrap|{{Jct|country=USA|I|85}} from [[Greensboro, North Carolina|Greensboro]] to [[Hillsborough, North Carolina|Hillsborough, NC]]}}
*{{Jct|country=USA|I|95}} in [[Benson, North Carolina|Benson, NC]]
| direction_b = East
| terminus_b = {{Jct|country=USA|US|117}} in [[Wilmington, North Carolina|Wilmington, NC]]
| states = [[California]], [[Arizona]], [[New Mexico]], [[Texas]], [[Oklahoma]], [[Arkansas]], [[Tennessee]], [[North Carolina]]
}}
'''Interstate&nbsp;40''' ('''I-40''') is a major east–west transcontinental [[Interstate Highway System|Interstate Highway]] in the [[Southeastern United States|southeastern]] and [[Southwestern United States|southwestern]] portions of the United States. At a length of {{convert|2,556.61|mi|km}}, it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after [[Interstate 90|I-90]] and [[Interstate 80|I-80]]. From west to east, it passes through [[California]], [[Arizona]], [[New Mexico]], [[Texas]], [[Oklahoma]], [[Arkansas]], [[Tennessee]], and [[North Carolina]]. Its western terminus is at [[Interstate 15 in California|I-15]] in [[Barstow, California]], while its eastern terminus is at a [[concurrency (road)|concurrency]] with [[U.S. Route 117 in North Carolina|U.S. Route&nbsp;117]] (US&nbsp;117) and [[North Carolina Highway 132]] (NC&nbsp;132) in [[Wilmington, North Carolina]]. Major cities served by the Interstate include [[Flagstaff, Arizona]]; [[Albuquerque, New Mexico]]; [[Amarillo, Texas]]; [[Oklahoma City, Oklahoma]]; [[Fort Smith, Arkansas|Fort Smith]] and [[Little Rock]] in Arkansas; [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]], [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]], and [[Knoxville, Tennessee|Knoxville]] in Tennessee; and [[Asheville, North Carolina|Asheville]], [[Winston-Salem, North Carolina|Winston-Salem]], [[Greensboro, North Carolina|Greensboro]], [[Durham, North Carolina|Durham]], [[Raleigh, North Carolina|Raleigh]], and Wilmington in North Carolina.

I-40 begins in the [[Mojave Desert]] in California, and then proceeds through the [[Colorado Plateau]] in Arizona and the southern tip of the [[Rocky Mountains]] in New Mexico. It then traverses the [[Great Plains]] through the [[Texas Panhandle]] and Oklahoma, and passes south of the [[Ozarks]] in Arkansas. The freeway crosses the [[Appalachian Mountains]] in Tennessee and North Carolina, before terminating in the [[Atlantic Plain|Atlantic Coastal Plain]] near the [[Atlantic Ocean]].

Much of the western part of I-40, from Barstow to [[Oklahoma City]], parallels or overlays the historic [[U.S. Route 66]]. East of Oklahoma City, the route generally parallels [[U.S. Route 64|US 64]] and [[U.S. Route 70|US 70]]. I-40 was established by the [[Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956]], and the numbering was subsequently approved on August 14, 1957, along with most of the rest of the system. The eastern terminus was initially planned to be located at [[Interstate 85 in North Carolina|I-85]] in Greensboro, but the [[Federal Highway Administration]] later approved extending the route to its current eastern terminus in Wilmington. As a result, this was the last segment of I-40 to be completed upon its dedication in 1990.