Leaders of two Downtown neighborhood groups disagree on the recent reopening of Riverside Drive but both share concerns about safety on the street, especially in the wake of the shooting of a 13-year-old girl there last weekend.
Riverside Drive reopened permanently to full-time car traffic on Friday, March 12th. The street between Union and Georgia was closed to automobile traffic by city of Memphis officials in March 2020. That move was a part of the Safer-At-Home order to limit capacity at city parks, including Tom Lee Park on the Memphis riverfront.
At the time, the city’s engineering office said the closure was “for an indefinite amount of time.” The detour route had motorists using Crump Boulevard, Second Street, B.B. King Boulevard., and Jefferson Avenue.
Riverside was reopened to traffic during weekdays in August. But the parking lot to Tom Lee Park remained closed in an effort to limit capacity at the park.
The street has for years been closed for nearly two months each year for the Memphis In May International Festival.
Two men shot at each other from cars on Riverside when the street opened nearly two weeks ago. Bullets from one of those guns struck a 13-year-old girl riding a scooter near the street.
The reopening was pushed, in part, by the Downtown Neighborhood Association (DNA). Jerred Price, the group’s president, said in a statement that the closure was “problematic” for disabled Memphians who could not use Riverside to access the park. DNA said Front Street neighborhoods “grew very concerned” with the increased traffic.
The DNA said it convened a committee of other Downtown neighborhood associations. Nearly all in the group, “voiced their desire for the street to be reopened, the concerns of its closure, and how it adversely affects them and the people within their neighborhoods.”
”We are happy this taxpayer-paid-for byway is restored once again,” Price said in a statement. “However, we are not blind to the safety challenges and issues we face with this street. As with many other streets in our city, cruising, and law breakers make this street sometimes unsafe for pedestrians and cyclists.
George Abbott, director of external affairs with the Memphis River Parks Parnership (MRPP), said his group will “continue to work towards safer conditions on Riverside Drive.”
“We’ve been working for a number of years with stakeholders — the city of Memphis and Downtown Memphis Commission — on potential solutions,” Abbott said. “We look forward to putting some of those in place with the work that’s to be done on Tom Lee Park.”
In July and August 2020, the South Main Association (SMA) conducted a survey on riverfront safety and about Riverside Drive’s closure to motorized vehicles. The survey was intended primarily for SMA members, but the group left it open to the public. The survey got more than 300 responses from residents across Downtown.
SMA said, “as springtime activity increases around South Main, Riverside Drive, and the riverfront, we feel that now is the appropriate time to release the results.”
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Here are a few takeaways of the survey:
• 60.1 percent supported temporary closure of Riverside
• 52.9 percent supported permanent closure of Riverside
• 61.7 percent said they felt safer with closure of Riverside
• 51.5 percent felt it was important for Riverside to be open during commuting hours
• 78.1 percent supported weekend closures of Riverside
• 59.9 percent said the closure of Riverside made Tom Lee Park more accessible
• 75 percent said they increased their visits to Tom Lee Park after the closure of Riverside
Eric Bourgeois, president of the SMA, said no notice of the reopening was given to South Main residents, a move that was “disheartening to say the least.”
“Since last fall, all Memphians had access to a vehicle-free Riverside Drive on weekends,” Bourgeois said in a statement. “This enabled people to enjoy bike rides, dog walks, strolls with friends, and immediate access to Tom Lee Park.
“Now, Downtowners have to, once again, hear the roaring of modified pipes as people with no regard for pedestrians zoom up and down the street until the wee hours of the night, especially on the weekends. As I’m sure you know, these activities resulted in a teenager being shot last week.
“I am concerned that the rushed reopening of Riverside Drive, combined with the springtime, pent-up energy of people eager to get back outside, will present more problems than solutions for those who live, work, and play in South Main and Downtown Memphis.”
