Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Bicycle Infrastructure

Memphis Turns Two Highway Lanes Into a Car-Free Oasis By the Mississippi

pfb logo 100x22
false

Michael Andersen blogs for The Green Lane Project, a PeopleForBikes program that helps U.S. cities build better bike lanes to create low-stress streets.

Once you start thinking about new ways to use your city's streets, you start to see opportunities everywhere.

That's exactly what's happened last weekend in Memphis, Tennessee, where half of a separated four-lane highway was converted into a safe, direct and stress-free walking and biking route along one mile of the Mississippi River. As we reported in March, Bluff City engineer John Cameron decided this spring to follow the recommendation of urban planning consultant Jeff Speck and experiment with a permanent new car-free space between downtown and the planned Harahan Bridge connection to Arkansas.

"Nothing separates downtown Memphis from its riverfront as powerfully as the current pedestrian-unfriendly condition of Riverside Drive," Speck wrote in his 2013 report on ways to reconnect the city with the riverfront that created it.

No more. Thanks to years of temporary closures during the annual Memphis in May festival, the city knew nearby streets could absorb the auto traffic without much trouble. And in return, for the price of some plastic bollards and new street coloring, Memphis has opened one of the best streets in the mid-South for biking, walking, skating and playing.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

NYPD Admits Bike Crackdown Based on ‘Community’ Vibes, Not Data

It turns out, the new strategy arose not from data, but from people complaining about e-bikes at community meetings, the NYPD finally admits.

Pain Points: Victims of Road Violence Make Annual Pilgrimage to Demand Safe Streets

“This epidemic is preventable,” a grieving dad said on his first trip to Albany as part of Families for Safe Streets. “It doesn't have to be this way.”

May 14, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines: Top of the Pops Edition

A new battery-swapping cabinet shows the way forward. Plus other news.

May 14, 2025

Police Chase Linked to Fatal Hit-and-Run in Bronx

Kelvin Mitchell a father of three, was killed by a speeding driver apparently trying to escape police.

May 14, 2025

AG James Sues Trump Over ‘Strong-Arm’ Tactic of Tying DOT Funds to Immigration Crackdown

The U.S. Department of Transportation is illegally threatening to withhold billions in transportation funding to states that don't "cooperate" with the administration's immigration crackdown, a new suit argues.

May 13, 2025
See all posts