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Riverside Drive will reopen to vehicles on Monday, August 3rd but will close again on weekends, according to the Mississippi River Parks Partnership (MRPP).
In a Thursday morning email, the MRPP said the street will close each Friday at 6 p.m. and open again at 6 a.m. on Monday mornings “to allow people to use the street and park safely.” The Tom Lee Park parking lot will remain closed.
The MRPP said it regularly counts visitors to the parks it manages and takes note of their activities. During the coronavirus pandemic, more people have been using the riverfront parks and using Riverside Drive “to spread out across Tom Lee Park and onto the street.”
“An analysis of interviews with park visitors over the past couple of months shows that ‘peace,’ ‘safe,’ and ‘convenient’ are overwhelmingly used to describe the atmosphere and nature of Tom Lee Park with Riverside Drive closed to vehicles,” reads the statement. “The partnership will continue our work with Mayor Jim Strickland, Memphis Police Department, and city engineering to find ways to continue to deliver this atmosphere even as cars and motorcycles return to Riverside Drive.”
