"We went from yearly to six months, to every three months, to every month, and those inspections showed us that we needed to go ahead and accelerate that project," TDOT's Nichole Lawrence told WREG the day before the Collierville-Arlington Road bridge over the Wolf River closed.
That closure began Tuesday, September 8. The Tennessee Department of Transportation expects the road to reopen to traffic by October 2027, and it expects the full project to finish in spring 2028. Most coverage has treated it as a commuting story. For people in Collierville and the Eads area north of the river, it is also a change in how they get to the river. The gravel lot, trail entrance and boat ramp at the bridge were the easiest way to drive to the Wolf River's wildest nearby stretch, and for the next year they are behind construction fencing. The river is still open. You just have to come in from the side.
A Faster Build Paid For With a Full Closure
The project costs $16.8 million, and Dement Construction won the contract. TDOT moved the bid date up from fiscal year 2027 to August 14, 2026, after the more frequent inspections showed the bridge needed replacing to stay safe and reliable over the long term. TDOT's notice covers the bridges over both the Wolf River and the Wolf River Overflow, between Shelton Road and the Wolf River Greenway trail entrance. WREG reported that crews will replace a second nearby bridge during the same closure.
Closing the road completely was a choice. TDOT says the full closure lets the new bridge go up faster than it would with traffic still crossing. The cost of that speed lands on people who used the crossing every day, whether to drive or to get onto the trails.
| Milestone | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Contract let to Dement Construction | August 14, 2026 | Complete |
| Bridge closed to all traffic | September 8, 2026 | In effect |
| Reopening to traffic | October 2027 | TDOT forecast |
| Overall project completion | Spring 2028 | TDOT forecast |
The last two rows are forecasts TDOT published in September. As of today, nothing has been published that changes them.
The Trail Entrance Closed Along With the Road
The closure covers more than the road. TDOT says access to the Riverwalk Trail, its parking area and its boat ramp are all closed during construction. Action News 5 also reported that the Riverwalk boat ramp is closing.
The Wolf River Conservancy describes the land behind that entrance as the Wolf River Wildlife Area. It covers more than 2,000 acres of woods and wetlands on both sides of the river, with a 5-mile crushed-limestone trail that is open daily from dawn to dusk. The Conservancy's description puts a gravel parking lot on the north side of the Collierville-Arlington Road bridge, and that description was written before the closure. The same page says the trail will eventually run 8 miles to Houston Levee Road, and that the farm fields north of the woods are open for hiking and biking. No hunting or ATVs are allowed, and the area is day-use only.
This stretch is also not connected to the paved Wolf River Greenway yet. The Conservancy says 14 of the Greenway's 26 planned miles are open. The Greenway East section ends at the power-line fields where Wolf Crossing begins, so you can't take a continuous paved trail to Collierville yet. That leaves the river crossing on Collierville-Arlington Road as the main way to reach the Wildlife Area by car, and that crossing is closed.
Where to Get In Until October 2027
TDOT names two alternatives to the closed Riverwalk entrance, the Collierville Greenbelt Trailhead and the Wolf River Kayak Access Point, and says signs will point the way. Neither site has a published street address on the official pages we checked, so follow the posted signs instead of a saved map pin. Here are the entrances that are documented, starting with the closest to the bridge:
- Collierville Greenbelt Trailhead. This is TDOT's main alternative. It connects to the Town's Greenbelt network, which runs 18.58 miles through neighborhoods, parks, schools and shopping areas.
- Wolf River Kayak Access Point. This is TDOT's other alternative for reaching the Riverwalk. The Conservancy's online map lists canoe access points, but its details didn't load in a form we could confirm, so check the signs on site.
- Bethany Road, at the western end of the Wolf River Wildlife Area. The Conservancy lists it as a second way into the park. Those directions predate the closure, so make sure the segment you want is open before you go.
- Peterson Lake Nature Center at W.C. Johnson Park, 419 W.C. Johnson Park Drive. A 0.7-mile boardwalk starts at Peterson Lake, a natural oxbow, and runs through cypress and tupelo wetland to the bank of the Wolf River. At the end you can see one of the rip-rap weirs the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built to stop channelization from wearing down the river. It is a walking route, not a boat launch. The Town lists parking among the park's amenities.
- Wolf Crossing, 221 North Humphreys Boulevard. This one is farther west, with street parking. It has a 270-foot suspension bridge and a raised concrete boardwalk through Lucius Burch State Natural Area, linking the Shelby Farms Greenline to the eastbound Greenway.
On the Eads side, the Conservancy describes a second parking area off Collierville-Arlington Road at the Wildlife Area's main trailhead, north of the bridge lot. TDOT says local access will stay open up to the closure point. Whether that northern lot is open during construction isn't confirmed in anything published so far, so check the signs on site.
Getting Across by Car
TDOT has posted a signed detour. Its written announcement doesn't give turn-by-turn directions. The detour map attached to the release labels Macon Road, Winfield Dunn Parkway, East Poplar Avenue and the 205 and 269 route shields. Use the posted signs for the actual order of turns.
Few roads cross the Wolf River in this part of the county. A Memphis MPO study names Houston Levee Road as one of only three Wolf River crossings in Shelby County east of Walnut Grove Road. Houston Levee isn't part of TDOT's signed detour. With only three crossings and one of them closed, more drivers are sharing fewer bridges. WREG talked with drivers at a nearby gas station who were frustrated by longer travel times. If you are on Poplar east of Fletcher Road, TDOT is also running intermittent lane closures between Fletcher and I-269 for a widening project, with flaggers on site and at least one lane open. For conditions before you drive, TDOT points to its TN SmartWay traffic cameras and the 511 line.
This Fall on the River and Greenway
With the closest boat ramp closed, the Wolf River Conservancy's events are the easiest way onto the water this fall. Its October 3 First Saturday Paddle, a 6.4-mile guided trip from Rossville to Piperton with a shuttle, has already happened. The Conservancy's calendar doesn't show another paddle date for October or November yet.
What's still coming:
- Wolf River Fall Fest, Friday, October 23, 5:30 to 8 p.m., at Shady Grove Trailhead, 6324 Humphreys Boulevard. Expect a scavenger hunt, a costume parade and food trucks. Parking is across Humphreys at Semmes Murphy Clinic. The Conservancy's August announcement lists October 24, so confirm the date before you go.
- Scare on the Square is on Collierville's Town Square that same Friday, October 23, so families will have two Halloween events to choose between that night.
- Greenway Soiree, Saturday, November 7, 6 to 10 p.m., at the FedEx Event Center at Shelby Farms Park. It's a ticketed fundraiser for finishing the Greenway, the same project that will eventually extend paved trail toward Collierville.
If you want to paddle on your own, the Conservancy lists Ghost River Rentals, Wolf River Canoe Trips and Blues City Kayaks for rentals, shuttles and tours in Shelby and Fayette counties. None of the three had a current fall season posted that we could confirm, so call before you plan a trip. The Conservancy estimates about six hours for the Ghost River run from LaGrange to Bateman and about three hours from Bateman to Moscow, and recommends a guide on the Ghost section for less experienced paddlers.
The new bridge on Collierville-Arlington Road is expected to open to traffic in October 2027. Until then, the side entrances are how you get to the river.
If the closure has changed your daily routes north of Collierville and you're starting to think about timing a sale or purchase around it, The Judy Mac Team can walk you through how buyers are likely to see a property on either side of the river this year. Contact Us.
