Tag: crosswalk

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Crosswalk Mural at Madison, Avalon to Celebrate Midtown

Credit: Urban Art Commission
Credit: Urban Art Commission

A Memphis artist has been selected to design and paint two crosswalks at the corner of Madison and Avalon in Midtown. 

Khara Woods (Credit: Urban Art Commission)

Khara Woods was recently commissioned by the Urban Art Commission and the city of Memphis to paint the new crosswalks, according to MidtownMemphis.org. That group is also supporting the project. The $14,000 project will transform the intersection close to Cash Saver Midtown, Murphy’s, and Memphis Renaissance. Specifically, the crosswalk murals will be painted on the north side of Madison and the east side of Avalon. 

Woods is a multidisciplinary artist and graphic designer. Her work has recently been exhibited in galleries in Memphis, Nashville, Lafayette, Louisiana, and Augusta, Georgia. She is now developing a large-scale outdoor installation for the Brooks Museum of Art. 

Since 2015, Woods has created murals and public art for the Memphis Public Library’s Cornelia Crenshaw branch, the city of Memphis’ Office of Comprehensive Planning, and Uptown Memphis.

The Madison/Avalon crosswalk project was selected by a group stakeholders including local business owners, residents, nonprofit groups, city officials, and from votes collected form the public. 

Madison and Avalon: site of the new crosswalks (Credit MidtownMemphis.org)

The group decided they’d like ot mural to include messages of civic pride like ”Heartbeat of Memphis,” “Midtown Memphis,” or “Midtown is Memphis.” The group wanted the mural to pay homage to that part of Midtown’s food, music, and entertainment. For this, they suggested symbols to represent music notes and instruments, dinner plates, food, and restaurants. They also suggested the mural’s colors be deep lilac, inchworm, Kauai, and Sienna.

No timeline for the project has been given publicly.

Find out more here. 

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Cooper-Young Pride Crosswalk Project Moves Ahead

Credit: Jerred Price/Facebook

The remaining crosswalks at the corner of Cooper and Young could soon get the same gay-pride-rainbow treatment as the one painted that way in 2019. 

A petition to paint one crosswalk (the eastern side) with the design was posted to change.org in May 2019 by Jerred Price, a talk show host, entertainer, and president of the Downtown Neighborhood Association who was running  for the Memphis City Council’s District 7 seat at the time. After a series of meetings, the project was approved by the council in September 2019. 

Work was completed on the crosswalk — the first such crosswalk in Tennessee — in November. The paint faded on the design and it was repainted in June 2020 with a more-permanent resin material over it to protect it from weather and traffic. The $3,000 project was funded by private donors.

Credit: Memphis Rainbow Crosswalk/Facebook

Price announced on Facebook Wednesday that he had completed and submitted the application for the second phase of work for the Memphis Rainbow Crosswalk. 

“This will bring the remaining three crosswalks at Cooper and Young to life with new rainbow stripes!” Price said. “The original project called for all four sides. However, we had some trial and error to do. So, to play it safe, we started with the one.”

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News The Fly-By

MEMernet: Snow!, The Rock, and Crosswalkin’

Let It Snow

Posted to Instagram by The Tennessee Brewery

Instagram was predictably hot with the cold stuff last week. Snow flurries dusted Memphis without disrupting school or work, leaving behind only some pretty pictures.

Flex

Last week, Memphis Reddit user u/benefit_of_mrkite shared this image of “Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson after wrestling at a flea market in Memphis for $40 (early 1990s).”

Crosswalkin’

Posted to Nextdoor by Bobi McBratney

Overton Square is set to get two new crosswalks soon close to the corners of Cooper and Monroe (yes, corners) in front of Hattiloo Theatre.

One will feature the colors of the gay pride flag that now also features colors supporting transgender, Black, and brown people. The other will read Black Lives Matter.

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Lanes Close on Poplar, as City Adds Crosswalk Near Central Library

CREDIT: Bike/Ped Memphis

Bike/Ped Memphis

Construction begins on an enhanced crosswalk on Poplar near the Central Library

As the city begins constructing an enhanced crosswalk near the Central Library, Poplar will see lane closures for the next three to four weeks.

The $98,107 project will be the first in recent years specifically geared toward pedestrian safety.

The crosswalk will sit on Poplar, south of the Central Library, a spot officials say is a “known high-risk spot.” The risk is compounded, as two of the Memphis Area Transit Authority’s most-used bus stops are near the library, but not in close proximity to a crosswalk.

“Many Memphians access the vital resources and information available at the Central Library by bus, and currently must either walk nearly a quarter-mile out of their way to use the nearest signalized crossing or risk an unprotected mid-block crossing,” officials said. “Over the years, multiple serious crashes have occurred as a people attempted the latter. As recently as March 2018, a driver struck and killed a gentleman attempting to cross the street at this location.”

Rendering of new crosswalk

The new crosswalk will be highly visible and include a median refuge island and a pedestrian-activated crossing light. The island is meant to narrow the crossing distance, reducing the chances of incident.

Officials said throughout the construction, there will be multiple lane closures on Poplar between Tillman and Lafayette. The closures will primarily take place on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. with limited closures on weekday nights.

At least two lanes of traffic will be open in each direction at all times. Depending on the weather, construction is expected to take no longer than four weeks.