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"...I've noticed how strangely I-40 is through Memphis. Power has it's privileges doesn't it?..."

The reason I-40 is like it is through Memphis goes back 30+ years. The intended route was nearly a straight shot from the Hernando Desoto Bridge to where the Nashville exit now is. A citizens group fought tooth and nail to prevent it going through their neighborhoods and through the Overton Park Zoo. The Zoo was spared but the homes in the intended path were bulldozed. The people were forced to find other digs. After protracted court cases, they won and I-40 was then shifted to the current configuration where you have to take the northern loop of I-240 to get back onto I-40 at the Nashville exit. That's one of the biggest wins for the common citizen this city has ever seen. The original owners of the property had first right of repurchase to their original lots. A lot of them did and the area looks great. That was around 15+ years ago.
Personally, I find the current layout more user-friendly. It takes you around to where the growth areas are and you avoid the traffic that would have been encountered had the original proposed route had gone through. It may have been "for the public good" but it works a lot better now.