Bike Lanes Ahead: Surveys, Open House Announced for FY21 Projects

Surveys are now live, and a public open house is scheduled for the Fiscal Year 2021 Capital Improvement Program Re-Surfacing projects requiring public outreach. Please use your voice, and let us know how you feel about the proposed changes to multiple streets around Memphis. The changes may include new center two-way turn lanes, parking lanes, and/or bicycle lanes

Fiscal Year 2021 CIP Re-Surfacing Projects with Proposed Lane Re-Configurations:

• Coleman Road (Yale Rd. to Stage Rd.)
• Kansas Street (1st St. to the I-55 Overpass)
• Knight Arnold Road (Ashwood Rd. to Goodlett Rd.)
• Mendenhall Road (McCrory Ave. to Summer Ave.)
• Scheibler Road (Yale Rd. to Olds Ave.)
• Whitney Road (Millington Rd. to Watkins St.)

Surveys:

Visit: https://memphistn.gov/government/engineering/surveys

All surveys will close at 11:59 Pm on Feb. 9, 2020.

Open House:

Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, 3030, Poplar Avenue, 6 Pm – 7Pm

We’ll be located in the main lobby near the children’s section.

Background Information:

Every year the City assembles a list of various street segments to include in the Capital Improvement Program’s re-surfacing budget. The CIP re-surfacing projects generally consist of larger roadways within Memphis, those with multiple and striped lanes. Smaller, neighborhood streets are re-surfaced through the operating budget of Public Works. The CIP list consists of typically 15-20 street segments.

Once the list is final, we get to work analyzing various criteria and propose lane configurations. Sometimes, we proposed no changes to the roadway. Many times we can propose the inclusion of new bike lanes without removing any existing travel lanes. And still other times, we propose a “road diet” that will remove an existing lane or two, add bike lanes and/or on-street parking, and increase safety along the street for all users. Whenever that last category is met, our policy requires that we undertaken public outreach before proceeding with design and construction.

The Fiscal Year 2021 re-surfacing projects are tentatively scheduled to reach construction between fall 2020 and summer 2021. A map with these street segments as well as all street segments included on the Fiscal Year 2021 CIP Re-Surfacing list can be found on the City’s Street Paving Schedule application.

Check Out the Updated Bikeway Network Maps

We’ve completed updates to the City’s bikeway network map after another year of adding new on- and off-street bikeways around Memphis. Maps are available for downloading and printing at the Bicycle Maps page of the blog. As one can see in the maps, slowly but surely a connected network of bikeways crisscrossing Memphis is coming together.

Since 2010, the City of Memphis has installed over 210 miles of bikeways. In that same year — as the 18th largest city in the country — Memphis could only claim less than two miles of bike lanes in the city limits. In the years to follow, Memphis averaged the installation of 20 miles worth of new bikeways per year across all facility types (i.e. shared lanes, bike lanes, protected bike lanes, shared-use paths, etc.). This steady progress brought the bikeway mileage total to 269.9 by the end of 2019. Last year, 22.3 miles were added to the network.

As 2020 begins, look forward this year to the completion of the Hampline, various segments of Wolf River Greenway, and several other new on-street connections.