The route that is now Interstate 840 had its origins in the 1975 Tennessee Highway System Plan issued by TDOT for the next four years, which first identified the need for an outer beltway around Nashville by 1995. The I-840 project was initiated in 1986 with the passage of the Better Roads Program by the Tennessee General Assembly. This program, which had been proposed and spearheaded by then-governor Lamar Alexander, increased the state's gasoline and diesel taxes to fund six new freeway projects and a backlog of 15 projects that had been labeled as top priorities, as well as other projects. I-840 was the largest of these six freeway projects, dubbed "Bicentennial Parkways", and was initially expected to cost $351 million (equivalent to $ in ). While initially referred to as I-840 in the state plan, the highway was constructed entirely with state transportation funds and was officially designated as a state route. The 1986–1987 state budget contained the initial funding for the project. Planning work began in 1988, and the alignment for the first section was announced in December of that year. Survey and design work began in 1989, and the alignment for the remainder of the route was announced in January 1990. Planners considered using SR 396, a short controlled-access connector between US 31 and I-65 in Spring Hill, for part of I-840, but ultimately chose a location about to the north. The first contract for construction was awarded on August 2, 1991, and work progressed in stages.