Riverside reverting to 4-lane roadway
Bicycle lanes being eliminated
Fol lowi ng complaints f rom Downtown residents and at least two City Council members, the dedicated bicycle lanes that have been tested on Riverside Drive will be eliminated to allow for a return to four lanes of vehicular traffic, Memphis Mayor AC Wharton said Wednesday.
The transformation to four lanes will be made in June, following the Memphis In May International Festival, pending further study, the mayor said in a prepared statement.
Since last June, the westernmost two lanes of the iconic Downtown boulevard have been reserved for bicycles and pedestrians as part of a pilot project conducted between Beale and Georgia.
Vehicles have been consigned to the two lanes on the east side of the median.
City officials had been planning to change the alignment to one of two alternatives that would put one lane of vehicle traffic on each side of the median, with bicycle lanes on the outside portions of the road.
But during a public hearing last week, many residents called for a return to four lanes for vehicles, saying the current alignment has created chronic congestion and safety problems. Those sentiments were echoed in a letter to the mayor from City Council chairman Myron Lowery and member Berlin Boyd.
In announcing his decision, Wharton said the pilot project has produced only modest success in reducing traffic speeds on Riverside and in steering motorists to alternative routes.
At the same time, traffic accidents have risen significantly.
“Public safety is my paramount responsibility and we will use the i nformation gathered t hus far, collect more data, and come up with a more optimal configuration that could include additions such as turn lanes, and separating the two lanes of vehicle traffic with a median. In the meantime, we will return Riverside Drive to the configuration drivers are most familiar with,” the mayor’s statement said.
The bike and pedestrian lanes had been recommended by an urban planner commissioned by the city to find ways to make the Mississippi River more accessible and improve the overall riverfront.
But statistics compiled by the city showed that during the first five months of the test an average of fewer than 19 cyclists a day used the lanes, compared to some 14,000 motor vehicles.
“Once Riverside Drive has been completely repaved in 2016, we will again review the traffic patterns, the impact of major new developments, and gather public input to determine the best permanent Complete Street configuration to accommodate all users — pedestrians, cyclists and motorists — safely and comfortably,” City Engineer John Cameron said in a prepared statement.
An official with a group supporting bicycle lanes expressed disappointment with the mayor’s action but commended the city’s engineering division for its publicoutreach efforts in the project.
“It’s not the decision we wanted to see, but there’s a reason for it,” said John Paul Shaffer, program director for t he group Livable Memphis.
Shaffer said he hopes the city will improve the crosswalks on Riverside to allow pedestrians safer access to the riverfront.