Tag: Hampline

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Whatever Happened To: the Greenline Extension From Tillman to Tobey Park

Credit: City of Memphis

Whatever happened to the project to extend the Shelby Farms Greenline west from Tillman? 

For the third installment of our occasional series, called “Whatever Happened To,” we’re checking in on that project. The $5.3 million plan was announced in 2016, nearly six years ago, and no construction has yet to begin on it. 

Here’s how the project was described by the city of Memphis Bikeway and Pedestrian Program’s website in October 2016: “The scope of this project is from the Greenline’s current terminus at Tillman Street to Flicker Street. Due to the necessity of crossing an active railroad, the city will construct a bicycle and pedestrian bridge in between the Union Avenue and Poplar Avenue viaducts. 

“Additionally, the city intends to build a new trailhead at Flicker Street, under or near the Union Avenue viaduct. Once complete, the bridge will allow the Greenline to one day push through Tobey Park, into the [Mid-South Fairgrounds], and possibly beyond.”

Since then, three different people have occupied the White House, a two-year pandemic changed the world, and The Fairgrounds is now called Liberty Park. 

For answers on the delay, we turned to Nicholas Oyler, manager of the city’s bike and pedestrian program. 

Memphis Flyer: Whatever happened with this project?

Nicholas Oyler:  This one is also federally funded. So, it’s also beholden to those same environmental clearance requirements [as the Poplar-Cooper Connector] and there are some other formalities that must be met. 

Ah, okay.

There’s also acquiring a formal railroad right of way. The project involves building a bridge over an active railroad. Anytime there’s a railroad involved, there’s even more legwork that has to be done, more boxes to check.

(Credit: City of Memphis)

We’ve been in that environmental review phase ever since the project started. The good news on this one is that we received that environmental clearance just last August. 

So that cleared the way for the project to proceed with design work. The engineering design consultant has finished 60 percent of the construction plans, so we have the preliminary plans. Those will get reviewed by the state and by us internally. 

We will be meeting with project stakeholders probably in the next three to four months. We’ll start talking about more of the amenities, the landscaping, opportunities for public artwork, and that sort of thing.

Kind of similar to [the Poplar-Cooper Connector], we anticipate we’ll be reaching construction mid-2023. 

Have the plans changed?

 Currently, the Shelby Farms Greenline stops at Tillman Street on the west side. This project will push it further to the west. So, it’s going to continue past Tillman, where it currently ties in with the Hamp Line. 

A conceptual drawing of how the bridge could look. (Credit: City of Memphis)

It will continue past Tillman, go under the Poplar Avenue viaduct, and then kind of rise up, become elevated to go over those active railroad tracks that the Union Avenue viaduct goes over. It will come down and then land at Flicker Street, near the skate park and Tobey Park. 

It is moving forward. Like I said, we expect construction to begin on this in mid-2023. 

A conceptual drawing of new life under the viaducts under Poplar and Union. (Credit: City of Memphis)

Is there anything I left out or anything you’d like to add?

On a related note, we have since received a separate federal transportation grant that allows us to start studying the feasibility of continuing a connecting path. It probably won’t be the Greenline as we know it, meaning it won’t necessarily be a separated, off-street path. 

 But we’re developing some kind of connection for people walking and people biking to continue from Flicker Street farther west to Cooper Street in Midtown. This one is just starting. It’s much earlier in the whole process. At this point, it’s just a feasibility study. But that’s another exciting connection that’s underway. 

A conceptual drawing of a bike and pedestrian bridge over East Parkway to help connect the Greenline to Downtown. (Credit: City of Memphis)

The bigger picture here is we have this Greenline project in the works already. Then, like I said, there’s the segment between the Greenline and Flicker that is [coming together]. Then, you have the Peabody Avenue project, which is going to link up with the existing bike lanes on [Martin Luther King Avenue] that we did a couple of years ago. 

One day, once this Cooper and Flicker segment of the Greenline is finished, we’ll have a continuous, seamless corridor running all the way from Downtown out to Cordova. It’ll be a corridor about 30 miles long.

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News News Blog

City Will See About 20 Miles of New Bike Facilities in 2020

Since 2010, the city has added approximately 212 miles of bicycle facilities to the city of Memphis, and has plans to continue upping that mileage for the foreseeable future.

Nicholas Oyler, bikeway and pedestrian program manager for the city, said moving into 2020, the city has several projects in the works that with continue to grow Memphis’ bikeway network.

City of Memphis

Over the next several years, Oyler said the city will likely continue the trend from previous years, adding an average of 20 miles worth of new bike facilities each year. The majority of newly installed facilities are included in routine street-resurfacing projects.

“Rather than setting a goal mileage for bikeways in the city, our ultimate goal is to have a street network that works safely and conveniently for everyone, whether walking, bicycling, accessing public transit, or driving,” Oyler said. “This means that just as we have a connected network of streets for cars, with multiple routes possible between points A and B, we need similar network for walking and bicycling.”

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Oyler said the city is using the Memphis Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Mid-South Regional Greenprint and the Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan to guide what the eventual network will look like.

The Greenprint plan, developed in 2015, is a 25-year plan to create 500 miles of greenway trails and 200 miles of bike paths across parts of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas. The Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan, created in 2014, focuses on safety, connectivity, accessibility, and transportation mode shifting. The plan identifies and recommendations for ways to improve the bicycle facilities in the region.

The PDF below shows the city’s existing bike facilities as of this month and those slated to be constructed generally within the next two years.
[pdf-1]

Down the Road

The Hampline, a project nearly nine years in the making, is slated to be completed in early 2020. The approximate two-mile long corridor will “seamlessly” connect Overton Park and Shelby Farms, “via a neighborhood that has long witnessed disinvestment and a lack of access to opportunities,” Oyler said.

Facebook/Bike Ped Memphis

The Hampline in Binghampton is nearing completion.

Later in 2020, Oyler said the city will look to Jefferson Avenue to begin “long-discussed” improvements between Front and Cleveland. The design process for this has already begun, and in early spring the city will begin the public engagement phase.

Another project Oyler looks forward to in 2020 is the installation of 500 new federally-funded bike racks around the city in partnership with the Memphis Area Transit Authority. The racks will be primarily located near existing bus stops to “encourage synergy between using transit and bicycling for the last- and first-mile connections.”

Finally, Oyler anticipates the launch of a public safety education and awareness campaign around walking and bicycling. The effort will be funded by revenue collected from the city’s Shared Mobility Program, which officially launched in July.

“We have made great strides over the last several years in terms of infrastructure improvements, but this campaign will be some of the city’s first efforts to improve education and awareness among the general public in terms of street safety,” Oyler said.


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Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said…

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

About Toby Sells’ cover story, “Bike Memphis!” …

I enjoyed reading Toby Sells’ “Bike Memphis!” article. It made me want to get out and ride. I didn’t see anything in it about the Hightailers, though — the biggest cycling club in Memphis. They’ve contributed to the success of cycling in Memphis, simply by the sheer volume of their membership, their advocacy, and their cycling education efforts.

If you’re not already a Memphis Hightailer, consider joining. There’s a huge wealth of knowledge and social enjoyment in being a member!

Drew

I live in Desoto County in Southaven and commute 31 miles round trip twice a week to Hernando. I ride upwards of 4,000 miles a year, some in Memphis but mostly in Desoto County, where there is zero bike infrastructure. And yet, I have almost no problems whatsoever. I control my lane at all times and communicate to motorists whether or not it’s safe to pass on two-lane roads. Almost all motorists are appreciative and courteous. The ones who throw tantrums still give me a full lane change when passing. A tantrum means I know they’ve seen me.

I will not ride in bike lanes next to parked cars or hidden behind parked cars like on Overton or Broad. Those are super dangerous. I sure hope Peabody doesn’t get bike lanes next to parked cars. Peabody is perfectly easy to ride on as it is.

Don’t ride in the gutter or on the sidewalk. Ride big. Be visible and predictable. Be aware of surroundings and communicate with other road users.

Patrick Smith

West Memphis has their Greenline into downtown completely finished now. I visited recently to check the progress and was happy to ride on paved Greenline all the way to Pancho’s.

It’s great that the Flyer is encouraging people to get out there and explore, and I hope that more people share your initiative. Also visit adanay.co and see some of the interesting rides around Memphis.

Cort Percer

About Bruce VanWyngarden’s Letter From the Editor, “Who to Hate” …

America leads the world in mass shootings. Why? National news media attention is like a vector that reaches people who are vulnerable. These disaffected people can be infected by the attention other angry, disturbed people get by becoming mass killers.

Before he shot dead 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, Adam Lanza created a spreadsheet documenting the names, body counts, and weapons from previous mass murders.

Killing former colleagues, schoolmates, or groups of strangers in a suicidal spasm serves not only as an act of revenge but as a way of forcing the world to be aware of the killer’s inner torment. These public attacks also give the killer the fame that eluded him in his failed life.

Revenge over real and imagined slights, the desire for attention and fame, and delusions all can play a role. Almost all mass shooters are male, with about 64 percent white. The American dream may contribute to the frequency of these killings. When success fails to materialize and men find themselves in the margins of society, they feel cheated and emasculated. They’re in real pain, but they’re eager to blame that pain on those around them. 

The United States has five times the number of mass shootings as the next-highest country in the world. Why? The most obvious reason is our unique gun culture. The U.S. easily has the most guns per capita of any country in the world, with an estimated 310 million guns in circulation, and lax gun laws. In a civil society, what does anyone need with a military style weapon?

Bob Lawrence

High-tech guns in the hands of low-tech minds continue to foster mass killings. Fifty young people killed in Orlando by a lone wolf, male gunman wielding a military-style weapon. It’s the guns, stupid; semiautomatic guns allow mass murders to happen. Over and over again, alienated young males have taken out their anger and hate on innocent victims. This was a hate crime of domestic violence directed at the people in a gay and lesbian nightclub. All these young people would still be alive today if it hadn’t been for the guns and bullets used in this killing spree.

Dion

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News The Fly-By

Bikesmith Opens Shop in Broad Avenue District

When Jim Steffen started fixing bicycles in the back of his Bikesmith truck, he noticed that many cyclists liked to stick around and watch the repair process. Now, they can watch the repairs and drink beer at the same time, and all in the comfort of a brick-and-mortar shop.

Steffen has expanded his mobile repair business into a shop on Hollywood, right in the heart of the Broad Avenue Arts District. In the new shop, customers can sip craft beers while they wait.

For years, Steffen’s Bikesmith truck, a converted freight truck, has been serving people in neighborhoods without bike shops. But the business’ growth over the past year warranted a new shop for Steffen, who got his start fixing bikes with the Shelby Farms Park Conservancy’s bike rental program.

With his Bikesmith truck, Steffen has been able to serve cyclists as far east as Collierville and in some locations in Mississippi.

A look inside the Bikesmith shop

“For some people, going to a bike shop can be a little intimidating,” Steffen said. “I think people get nervous when they go to a bike shop if they don’t know bikes. They just want it to work. I think having the truck took some of that anxiety out of people. A lot of people wanted to come on the truck and see what I was doing.”

Steffen says he’ll continue to operate his mobile business, but customers can also visit his brick-and-mortar shop. The new shop is in a renovated automotive garage, complete with repair racks and a bar. There’s also a patio and some green space in the back, which Steffen is considering adapting into a bike polo court or a “pump track,” a looping trail system for mountain bikes.

Visitors are invited to ask questions about their bikes and chat while their machinery is being worked on, and they can enjoy beers and sodas while they wait.

“With our repair stands, we have this bar with stools there,” he said. “When David [Evans] and I are working on your bike, you can sit there and watch us work on your bike. We wanted to have everything out in front so you can see it. We wanted to make it more than just a bike shop.”

Steffen and his wife have a history with Broad Avenue: They volunteered on the street when it was going through the city’s MEMFix revitalization program, and they participated in art walks.

With the implementation of the Hampline bike path along Broad, Steffen said the arts district seemed like an obvious choice.

“It’s really easy for people to get their bikes down here,” Steffen said. “It’s really close to [Overton Park]. You have the Hampline. We wanted to have a place where people can bike to the shop. I don’t think there’s another place in town that would be as perfect as this building is.”

At the Bikesmith shop, visitors can also purchase their own bicycles and bike accessories.

The shop is celebrating its grand opening on December 6th with food, beer, and a raffle giveaway for a kid’s bike.

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News The Fly-By

Bicycle Crossing Light Planned for Hampline

Earlier this month, a bicyclist was killed after being hit by a vehicle just a block west of Sam Cooper and Tillman, the same intersection that, in about a year, will boast the city’s first bicycle-only traffic light.

The special traffic signal for cyclists is part of the planned Hampline bicycle path stretching from Overton Park to the Shelby Farms Greenline.

Zachary Walls, 40, was hit and killed by a vehicle driven by 50-year-old Solomon Johnson. Johnson stayed on the scene but was arrested for driving on a suspended, revoked, or canceled license. The scene of the accident was closer to Lipford, about a block from the traffic light at Tillman, so it’s hard to know whether the completed Hampline and its planned bike traffic signal could have made his route safer.

But Livable Memphis Program Director John Paul Shaffer believes the planned bike path will improve bicycle and pedestrian safety overall.

Artist rendering of the Hampline along Tillman

“Sam Cooper right now screams ‘You’re not safe no matter what happens,'” Shaffer said. “Getting across Sam Cooper is terrifying sometimes.”

Once complete, cyclists will approach the Sam Cooper and Tillman traffic signal, and a sensor in the street will detect the bike. An extra traffic signal with red, yellow, and green lights projected through a cutout of a bicycle will tell cyclists when it’s safe to cross.

Part of the Hampline is already constructed. It begins at Overton Park and crosses East Parkway onto an existing sidewalk along Sam Cooper that leads to Broad Avenue. From there, the path travels down Broad’s existing bicycle lanes.

In the past few months, city crews have erected flexible bollards along Broad between Hollywood and Collins to separate the lane from the parking area. Before those were installed, drivers would often park cars partially inside the bike lane. City Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator Kyle Wagenschutz said crews are still putting the finishing touches on that stretch of the Hampline project.

“They’re about 85 percent done. They can only operate on days when it’s warm enough to put the paint down,” Wagenschutz said.

But for now, the Hampline ends at Collins. That’s because that first stretch of the Hampline was paid for through city funds, but the rest of the project — the lane from Collins to Tillman, the bicycle traffic signal at Sam Cooper and Tillman, and the north-south stretch of lane from Tillman to the Greenline — will be funded using federal money.

The designs must be approved by the Tennessee Department of Transportation and the federal government before that part of the project can move forward.

“If the design approval process goes smoothly, we’ll be able to bid the construction for those [final] phases sometime in 2015, but whether or not the physical construction begins before next winter, I don’t know at this point,” Wagenschutz said.

From Collins west to Tillman and from Tillman south to the Greenline, the lane will be buffered from traffic with a concrete median, some of which will be planted.

“I think there’s even a rain garden in one spot. It just depends on how wide they are as to whether or not the curbs have plantings,” said Shaffer, whose organization raised $72,000 for the Hampline’s design through the crowd-funding website, ioby.org.

Despite the recent bicycle fatality near the Hampline’s path, Wagenschutz said bicycle accidents have actually decreased since 2008. Most years, the city only has one or two accidents. So far this year, there have been two, both within the past month. The city doubled the miles of bicycle infrastructure by 2010, and that number is projected to double again by 2016.

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News News Blog

Greenline Connector to Crowdsource $75,000

A rendering of the Hampline shows the two-lane design and physical barrier that distinguishes the project from standard bike lanes.

  • A rendering of the Hampline shows the two-lane design and physical barrier that distinguishes the project from standard bike lanes.

With Memphis on the coattails of being named last year’s Most Improved Bike City by Bicycling Magazine, the city’s first two-way cycle track bike lane is seeking financial help from a crowdsourced fund-raising campaign.

The two-mile Hampline will connect bicyclists from Overton Park to the Shelby Farms Greenline, running through Binghampton. The project, which has been in the works since 2010, will have a lane in both directions and will be separated from the main road by a barrier to increase safety for cyclists. The line will have two miles of murals and sculptures, as well as art galleries and an amphitheater.

The development needs $75,000 from the public, but the additional $175,000 needed to break ground will come from private contributions and organization donations. In total, the Hampline is estimated to cost $4.5 million.

To donate, visit the project’s fundraising page.