Put your hazards on the second something feels wrong, before you’re sure it’s serious. If you’re still rolling and there’s any way to reach the Tennessee or Arkansas side before you commit to the span itself, take it. If the car dies mid-bridge and you’re stuck in a live travel lane, stay belted in. There’s no wide paved shoulder out there to walk to, and getting out into moving interstate traffic on a river crossing is more dangerous than sitting still. Once you’ve actually stopped moving and you’re not blocking a lane you can safely get out of, call from inside the car. Memphis crosses the Mississippi two ways, the Hernando de Soto Bridge carrying I-40 and the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge carrying I-55, and neither one gives you a real place to pull off mid-span.

Two bridges, one river, no shoulder to hide on

The Hernando de Soto Bridge is the one most people picture when they think of driving into Memphis, a tied-arch bridge locals call the M Bridge for the shape of its two center arches, lit gold and blue at night. It carries I-40 traffic between West Memphis, Arkansas and downtown, and its arch section doesn’t give a stalled car anywhere to go except the travel lane it’s already sitting in.

The Memphis & Arkansas Bridge, a few miles south and known around here as the old bridge, carries I-55. It’s the older of the two crossings by a lot, built well before modern interstate standards existed, and it wasn’t designed with a modern breakdown lane any more than the Hernando de Soto was. Both bridges move heavy truck volume around the clock, so a flat tire or a dead battery mid-span isn’t just inconvenient, it’s a real hazard sitting in a live lane with nowhere to go.

The practical version: hazards on the instant you notice trouble, before the bridge if you can manage it. If you make it to the Tennessee or Arkansas approach before the car actually quits, that’s where you want to be, not mid-river. Check your gauges, your tires, and your fuel before you commit to either crossing if you have any warning at all. If you don’t get that warning and the car dies on the span itself, stay belted, keep your hazards on, and call once you’re stopped and it’s safe to do it from inside the car. The recorded line matches you with a local operator.

What the 2021 crack taught Memphis drivers about detours

On May 11, 2021, inspectors found a structural crack in a steel tension-tie girder on the Hernando de Soto Bridge, roughly 900 feet of it, on the bridge’s north truss. Tennessee and Arkansas transportation officials shut the bridge down completely, both to vehicle traffic and to river traffic underneath, and coordinated with the Coast Guard while they worked it out. Every vehicle that would normally have crossed on I-40 got diverted onto the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge instead, at a scale that made national news. Press coverage at the time put the Hernando de Soto’s normal daily load at more than 41,000 vehicles, a press-reported figure rather than an official TDOT count, but it captures how much traffic one bridge was carrying and how much the other one had to absorb overnight. The bridge stayed closed to vehicle traffic for the better part of three months.

Here’s what that taught Memphis: there are exactly two ways across this river on the interstate system, and if one goes down, everything funnels onto the other. It’s not an abstract risk. It happened, it made national headlines, and it’s part of why knowing your options before you’re mid-bridge matters more here than it does in most cities.

TDOT HELP: what’s free, and what it won’t do

Tennessee runs a free roadside patrol on covered interstates around Memphis called HELP, the Highway Emergency Local Patrol. Urban patrol hours vary by day. During HELP service hours, dial 511 and follow the Motorist Assistance prompts. Assistance is not guaranteed. The program covers the Tennessee approaches to the river crossings, not the Arkansas side.

On those routes, HELP may provide incident assistance or clear a stalled or disabled vehicle out of the travel lane without charge. What it does not do is tow your car to your chosen shop, home, or storage lot. Once you’re off the highway or your breakdown falls outside HELP’s hours or routes, that move requires a private tow. Call (901) 557-8700 once you’re safely stopped.

Memphis roads keep moving after urban patrol hours

Urban HELP hours vary by day, but Memphis traffic continues overnight. The FedEx Superhub at Memphis International Airport runs roughly 250 flights a night, most of them landing and taking off between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., and that overnight sort operation puts real shift-change and delivery traffic on the interstates. Rural HELP has on-call overnight support for major incidents, but that is not guaranteed roadside assistance for an individual breakdown.

That’s a gap the recorded line is built for. If your car goes down at 3 a.m. on I-55 headed toward the airport or on I-240 near the Lamar Ave interchange, do not count on HELP responding to an individual breakdown. Call (901) 557-8700 to request a private match.

Break down heading into Arkansas? Different state, same phone number

Cross the middle of either bridge heading west and you’re not in Tennessee anymore. West Memphis and Marion sit on the Arkansas side, right where I-40 and I-55 physically meet the river. If your car goes down past that midpoint, you’re now in a different state’s jurisdiction for anything involving law enforcement or a private-property tow, even though the road looks the same and the traffic doesn’t change. What doesn’t change is the phone number. One call, and the recorded line matches you with a local operator whether you’re stranded on the Tennessee side, the Arkansas side, or right at the crossing itself. See the West Memphis service page for how a recorded-line match works on that side of the river.

Lamar Ave and the heavy-duty side of bridge trouble

Not every bridge-adjacent breakdown is a passenger car. US-78/Lamar Avenue, the corridor feeding traffic toward both river crossings, is TDOT’s own pick for the most congested state road in the Memphis region, and it’s been a primary freight artery since the early-to-mid 20th century. An 18-wheeler that loses a tire or blows an air line approaching either bridge on Lamar Ave isn’t a job a passenger tow truck can handle, and it’s not a call that should sit for long on a corridor that busy. If that’s your situation, the recorded line matches you with a local operator who has heavy-duty equipment. See heavy-duty towing.

Check TDOT SmartWay before you cross

TDOT’s SmartWay system gives you live traffic cameras, incident reports, and construction updates for Memphis’s interstates, including both river crossings, before you’re already committed to one of them. It’s worth a look before any drive that puts you on I-40 or I-55 near the river, especially if you’ve had any warning signs from your car already.

For more on what to do if the car dies before you reach a bridge, see car that won’t start and overheating, or emergency towing.

Frequently asked questions

What do I do if my car breaks down in the middle of a Memphis bridge?

Put your hazards on immediately. If you’re stuck in a live travel lane, stay belted in rather than getting out into traffic. Once you’ve stopped and it’s safe, call (901) 557-8700 from inside the car. The recorded line takes calls 24/7 and matches you with a local operator.

Does TDOT HELP tow my car off the bridge?

No. HELP may clear your vehicle out of the travel lane and provide incident assistance, but it does not tow vehicles to your chosen shop or home. The current published program information does not confirm jump starts. Transport to a chosen destination requires a private tow.

What are TDOT HELP’s hours and routes in Memphis?

Urban HELP hours vary by day. Check TDOT’s published schedule for current hours. During service hours, dial 511 and follow the Motorist Assistance prompts. Assistance is not guaranteed. Rural HELP covers I-269 from the Mississippi state line to Exit 19 from 6:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. daily, with on-call overnight support for major incidents.

What happened when the Hernando de Soto Bridge cracked in 2021?

On May 11, 2021, inspectors found a structural crack in a roughly 900-foot steel tension-tie girder. TDOT and Arkansas officials shut the bridge down completely and diverted all I-40 river traffic onto the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge for the better part of three months.

I broke down heading into Arkansas past the middle of the bridge. Does that change anything?

You’re now in Arkansas jurisdiction rather than Tennessee’s, which can matter for law enforcement or a private-property situation. It doesn’t change the number. The recorded line takes calls 24/7 and matches you with a local operator on either side of the river.

Where can I check bridge traffic before I drive?

TDOT’s SmartWay system has live cameras and incident reports for I-40 and I-55 around Memphis, including both river crossings.