During peak drive times, trucks back up traffic along the
easternmost stretch of Lamar Avenue, earning the corridor the title of
“most congested” in the city.
“The corridor is a level F, which means bumper-to-bumper traffic,”
says Memphis Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) administrator
Martha Lott. “This is one of the most congested corridors in the city,
unless a lane goes down on one of the bridges into Arkansas.”
The MPO, in partnership with the University of Memphis and
consulting firm Cambridge Systematics, recently began a corridor study
in an effort to ease congestion on Lamar from I-240 to Goodman Road in
Mississippi. Once complete, the results will guide the MPO on what
improvements to make, such as roadway widening and updated
traffic-light signaling.
Like most problems, the congestion is likely to get worse before it
gets better.
“Burlington Sante Fe railroad [just off Lamar] has a $2 million
expansion that opened in June,” Lott says. “They’re expecting an
additional 300 trucks going in and out of there by October.”
Lott says the study was launched in conjunction with the city’s
aerotropolis initiative, which deals with improvements to the airport
area.
The congestion along Lamar isn’t doing much for air quality, either:
“Shelby County has a non-attainment ranking for our air-quality
status,” Lott says. “All those trucks sitting there idling [at
stoplights] are greatly impacting the air quality.”
As part of the study, interns from the University of Memphis have
been following big rigs along Lamar to find out where the trucks are
coming from, where they are going, and how long it takes them to get
there.
The approximately $200,000 study also entails estimating freight
demand in the corridor through input from the various companies, such
as Williams-Sonoma and Nike, located along the busiest stretch of
Lamar.
Improvements to Elvis Presley Boulevard, a less congested major
corridor, are also being planned. Last week, the city was awarded a
federal grant of nearly $1 million to enhance the streetscape between
Craft Road and Winchester.
“This money is specifically for sidewalks, crosswalks, streetscape,
and landscape improvements. We’re making it look pretty,” says city
engineer Wain Gaskins.
The enhancements are a small portion of a larger planned project to
improve Elvis Presley all the way to Shelby Drive.
“We’re going to have to work closely with Elvis Presley Enterprises
on design improvements,” Gaskins says. “Graceland is looking at $250
million in improvements to that area. Whatever we do, we want to make
sure it marries up with their plans.”
But Gaskins points out that the improvements aren’t being made
solely with Graceland in mind.
“This is not an Elvis Presley Enterprises project. We want to help
promote overall economic development in that entire corridor,” Gaskins
says. “We want all the mom-and-pop, locally owned stores along there to
move up the ladder as well.”
