Photo courtesy Overton Park Conservancy
At the corner of Cooper and Poplar, pedestrians have worn their own path into Overton Park.
Overton Park may soon get a new entrance for bicyclists and pedestrians, thanks to a big grant from the First Tennessee Foundation.
The Overton Park Conservancy received a $25,000 grant from the bank’s foundation that will unlock federal funds, which will all be used to build the new entrance this year at the heavy-traffic corner of Poplar and Cooper.
The city of Memphis is preparing to stripe bike lanes along Cooper that head into Overton Park. That project will also include painting a single crosswalk across Poplar to a small patch of concrete that will not connect to a park sidewalk or trail.
The new plan, called the Cooper-Poplar Connector, was designed by Ritchie Smith Associates and calls for a second crosswalk on the west side of the intersection, a protected bike crossing at the traffic signal, a new landing pad on the park side for bikes and pedestrians, and a new path that will connect to the park’s trail system.
Overton Park executive director Tina Sullivan says the grant will allow the park to be more accessible.
“First Tennessee’s leadership allowed us to construct the bicycle and pedestrian plaza on East Parkway and to build the Bike Gate arch, which is already an iconic symbol of Memphis’ progress as a cycling-friendly city,” Sullivan said in a statement. “We are tremendously grateful for their continued investment in the park and their commitment to moving Memphis forward.”
The Cooper-Poplar Connector will cost $346,000, funded in part by the Tennessee Department of Transportation. That portion of the funding was obtained by the Memphis Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. The city of Memphis also allocated funding for the project.
Photo courtesy Overton Park Conservancy
An artist’s rendering of the proposed “Cooper-Poplar Connector.”
