Bass Pro to Rethink Road

(click to enlarge)

Today's sustainability/complete streets thinking calls for giving less of our cities to cars and more room to bikers, walkers, and mass transit.  This trend toward a more walkable, livable city has taken root in Memphis, and Bass Pro is reconsidering road options to the Pyramid.

Consultant Jeff Speck saw that the road to Bass Pro was being designed for cars and trucks only and made some suggestions about how complete street principles could be applied. His drawing (above)  suggests a "road diet" - narrowing the proposed road from 4 to 2 lanes of traffic and adding biking, parking, and walking along the sides. There are other road design options, too. Since the roadway has not yet been built and leads only to large parking lots and the store, it could be 2 lanes without parking; bike lanes and walking paths could be separate and located away from the road. 

At the request of the Memphis Downtown Commission Design Review Board (DRB), Bass Pro is reconsidering their exterior sign proposals for the Pyramid, parking lots, and roadway, and, based on Speck's recommendations, modifications to the proposed road design, too. 

Here's a video on Complete Streets in Memphis: