roadplan

Improved Bicycle and Pedestrian Access

Between City and Shelby Farms to be Studied

Community pressure has won a small battle. In response to a number of citizen organizations prodding a
study is commissioned. This study will make recommendations for improved bicycle and pedestrian access
along Walnut Grove Rd. in the I-240 area.

The Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee met on May 16, to consider the Scope of Services
presented to TDOT by RPM Traffic Consultants. RPM is the same organization that conducted the study to
establish the bicycle and pedestrian plan in 2004.

TDOT will award the contract for the study in the very near future. RPM will perform the study and report
their concepts for several bicycle and pedestrian routes. The BPAC will see those concepts for comment.
There will be public meetings so everyone can have input on this process.

MSTA will keep the public informed on this and other important cycling issues. When meetings are
scheduled, they will be announced on this web site.

The Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) of the Metropolitan Planning Organization
(MPO) met for a kickoff meeting about the Walnut / Grove Humphries Road project. In this meeting
Bob Murphy of RPM Traffic Consulting presented an explanation of the processes and procedures that
will be followed in this study.

RPM also took suggestions from the BPAC concerning possible connections through the area. A
number of alternate routes and connections were discussed. These suggestions will be included in
development of the 5 proposed designs RPM is required to present as possible designs.

The next BPAC meeting is a few months away. More details will be available at that time. A number
of people have asked where letters of support should be sent. At this time these are the appropriate
recipients. There is not a defined proposal, however, you can ask them to support the process and
the results of the study. More information will be announced as it becomes available.

Palmer Engineering modified the design of the south side of interchange to create a "no impact" design.
Modifying the loop and reducing the ramp speed from 25 mph to 20 mph accomplished this design. The
redesigned interchange has no elements on the landfill and does not move Walnut Grove any further north
than the original design. The no impact design is shown below.

On July 31, the Shelby Farms Parkway Advisory Team met to see the results of the requested study about moving
the Walnut Grove interchange further south. This would require building on the existing landfill or mitigating the landfill.
The study was done by Stantec Consulting, which has engineered landfill sites since 1954. Stantec is a recognized
leader in this field.

Stantec outlined three methods of dealing with the landfill and construction. The first way to accomplish this is to build
on the landfill with strengthening and bridging elements in the design. This option was proved not feasible due to the
instability in this landfill.

The second construction option is to build foundations through the landfill to solid ground underneath. The problem
with this option is it would likely lead to leeching landfill byproducts into the sand aquifer which is protected by a thin
clay cap. This could endanger the Memphis water supply and was rejected for that reason.

The last option is to remove the waste and relocate it to another site. Then fill the excavated area with engineered fill.
This would create a solid base suitable for construction. This was chosen as the only possible option.

The original interchange design (shown below) had some elements south of Walnut Grove Road. It was believed the
landfill boundary was south of the road. The study has shown the landfill extends all the way to the south embankment
of Walnut Grove Road.

This meeting was intended to be informational but the team decided to make a recommendation just to be
on record. Option 1 was discarded because it does not move Walnut Grove any further south, which was
the point of this study. The six million-dollar expenditure would only achieve keeping the ramp at 25-mph
speed. Option 2 was discarded due to the cost. The road project itself is estimated to cost between $15-
$20M. This option at $33.5M could cost twice the cost of the road project. The cost benefit ratio does not
support option 2. The team decided to recommend the "no impact" option to keep the overall project cost
within reason.

A secondary discussion was about how the road project and the newly approved Shelby Farms Master
Plan will interact. The master plan has a number of elements included for bike and pedestrian traffic to be
able to move around the park unimpeded by road crossings. In our sign off meeting Februry 2006, the
advisory team insisted that there be bike and pedestrian connections north-south and east-west in the road
corridor. City Engineer Wain Gaskins said that several connections that are in the team's study area would
be included in the design and construction of Shelby Farms Parkway.

The design team intends to follow the progress of this project to ensure the team's recommendations are
being followed. If any problems develop they will come to my attention and will be reported on our MSTA
web site.

Brad