The Commercial Appeal from Memphis, Tennessee • 17

IEMPHIS SUNDAY JUNE 28 1998 THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL A17 Extension of Kirby sparks up a familiar old debate By Wayne Rlsher Th Commercial Appeal in By Karan PuHer Foctt Traffic piles up on Farm Road early on a Thursday morning In Shelby Farms As the city continues to develop to the east Shelby Farms is expected to become wbat Overton Park was to Memphis in the 1950s when the 1-40 case began: a large essentially pastoral area near the city's population center Start with a narrow road really not much more than a lane running through public land popular for dog-walking kite-flying and otherwise es- 1 caping to wide open spaces Adda plan to build a limited-access highway through the public land to accommodate pore traffic Inject some loyal opposition from citizens dedicated to pre-rving as much of the land as rasible for future generations If this was 1968 the public land would be Overton Park The controversial project would be the plan to lplete the Midtown section Interstate 40 along the old bus lane Three decades later the setting is Shelby Farms The project is the proposed extension of Kirby Parkway to replace an overburdened Farm Road as a north-south traffic artery serving rapidly growing eastern suburbs -The Tennessee Department of Transportation is working with Shelby County government on a $15 million to $20 million plan to extend Kirby from Walnut Grove northward into Shelby Farms where it would split into two new roads extensions of Sycamore View and Kirby Whitten to the north I The city plans to widen Walnut Grove east of Humphreys to connect the new section of Kirby with an existing section of Kirby between Humphreys and Poplar to the south 3- Officials say another north-south road is desperately needed to relieve traffic congestion on 1-240 and Germantown Parkway and to provide a more direct route Detween Bartlett and southeast Memphis and Shelby County Groups such as Friends of Shelby Farms and People Against the Road have been vocal in opposition to highways bisecting the park response to complaints arts of the project have been lownsized and the state is studying making Kirby four lanes rather than six Recently She project took another twist when-retired First Tennessee Bank president Ron Terry championed an alternative plan to move the proposed road to the western end of Shelby Farms where it would become is a very strong consensus that that road ought not be built through the Newman said seen a larger consensus on another issue in my lifetime believe it should be solved politically Then not going to be necessary to solve it through litigation" The law Newman refers to is a 1966 statute that says a federally funded highway go through park land unless mere is no other feasible or prudent alternative The law also says plans for such a road must incorporate all possible planning to minimize harm to the park land State highway planners who are managing the road project for Shelby County have avoided calling Shelby Farms a ark County Engineer David city and county officials and environmentalists nearly 10 years ago At that time the plan was to extend Kirby nearly due norm from its intersection with Humphreys over a new Wolf River bridge and through Shelby Farms At Issue men was the 413-acre Shelby Farms Forest along the wolf River Opponents convinced officials to route Kirby along Humphreys and Walnut Grove ana avoid building another bridge said Larry Smith executive director of the Wolf River Conservancy one of the opposition groups in me The County Commission in 1994 set aside a 1000-foot corridor through Shelby Farms north of Walnut Grove for Kirby Bennett said The current alignment was moved to the western edge of that corridor after an earlier version was criticized for being too close about 400-500 feet away to Patriot Lake in Plough Park Other changes included downgrading the proposed intersection of Kirby Parkway Sycamore View and Kirby Whitten from one with high-volume ramps and flyover lanes to a typical urban intersection with traffic signals Bennett said The new segment of Sycamore View was reduced to urban-type parkway he said At the south end Bennett said the interchange at Walnut Grove and Kirby was scaled down It would feature ramps leading from southbound Kirby to westbound Walnut Grove and westbound Walnut Grove insportationdoiiartrac to northbound Kirby The ramps would have a maximum design speed of 50 mph but probably would be posted at 40 mph he said Vehicles traveling from eastbound Walnut Grove to northbound Kirby would have to pass through a traffic signal 1 The Kirby Parkway section is predicted to carry 30000 vehicles a day in 2020 they go through the farm 30000 vehicles going on other such as Germantown Parkway or 1-240 Concerning opponents of the proposed location Bennett saidt of them are just looking at me park and not me needs of me Bennett and Smith of the Wolf River Conservancy both criticized me plan advanced by Ron Terry to move Kirby to the western edge of Shelby Farms: because that would require a new Wolf River crossing and would go through part of the Lucius Burch Natural Area our belief that would be an environmental roadblock we would never get Bennett said longer it's more expensive and it has more environmental did not like me design of me present Smith said did not object to the location I will work with every fiber of my beiny to hold up my heir mis (Terry) plan said me Kirby project be smaller and look: Smith like been designed to go: through a He said what-ever is built needs to have crossings for walkways and bicycle paths Staff graphic Conroy said think any body would argue that if the interstate had gone straight through that would not have been a better transportation system the other Conroy continued got the park got me makings of a world-class zoo You may not have had the growing really nice neighborhood west of the park got other road projects that were built that have been built but probably also got road projects that had to be built or have been as large if it (the park route) had been To reach reporter Wayne Risher call 529-2776 or E-mail rishergoqiemphiscom 11 an extension of Humphreys Since it involves a federally funded highway and a heavily used public recreation area the Kirby Parkway proposal naturally invites comparisons to the Overton Park case Like the Overton Park case the Kirby Parkway project has a long history been in the metro major road plan for at least 20 years 1-40 would have passed within sight and earshot of Overton Rainbow Lake and the largest open lawn where park users play sports picnic and walk dogs latest alignment is about 1400 feet west of Plough Park and Patriot Lake one of Shelbv most heavily 1 free play areas used: continues to develop to the east Shelby Farms is expected to become what Overton Park was to Memphis in the 1950s when the 1-40 case began: a large essentially pastoral area near the population center Despite the obvious parallels there are also some key differences Kirby would be a local road local traffic was to serve both local and through traffic About half of Overton Park back then was forest and the interstate was proposed to cut through some of the forest In contrast Kirby would traverse a treeless expanse planted in crops At 4500 acres the Shelby County-owned Shelby Farms ange was designed to provide 1-240 commuters with access to and from 1-40 near downtown not to handle traffic passing through the city on 1-40 Because of me Overton Park case done both The interchange currently is being redesigned to provide two-lane ramps in each direction with me ramps banked at steeper angles to allow faster safer movements The project also calls for widening of 1-40 north of the junction to 12 lanes Tennessee DOT spokesman Luanne Grandinetti said negotiations for right-of-way for the Midtown interchange improvements are scheduled to begin in July 1999 Construction would begin in mid-2000 uilding highways through public land such as parks was common when interstates were laid out in the mid-1950s It saved right-of-way costs and reduced disruptions to homes and businesses was actually nothing in me regulations that required the detailed review of me effect on socioeconomics the environment said lipinski these regulations were not part of the process job was to serve desires in the most economic manner possible" Lipinski said that meant putting a road through that impacted a neighborhood me conventional thinking was That hurt me neighborhood but it benefits dwarfs the 342-acre Overton Park The size makes for a larger obstacle for road planners to maneuver around Shelby Farms is 5 miles long from Interstate 240 on the west to Germantown Parkway on the east The engineers who planned the Overton Park expressway were looking at an obstacle less than three-Fourths of a mile wide Charles Newman who was an attorney for Overton Park expressway opponents said he thinks the same law that kept I-40 out of Overton Park could be used to alter the Kirby Park way plan But New Newman also thinks parties to the Kirby Parkway debate may have learned enough from the Overton Park case to resolve the question without legal action is very much like Overton Park as a legal Newman said same laws apply As there were in Overton Park there are alternate routes that would accomplish the same purpose that have not been explored If it becomes necessary to litigate the Secretary of Transportation and courts will ultimately hold that it be built through Shelby Farms through Overton Park Instead of the community as a The Overton Park case was caught up in a fundamental shift in the way federal high-ited park provision of the 1966 act creating a federal DOT and the National Environ- mental Policy Act of 1969 road planners were obliged to give more weight to me human and environmental impacts of a project The landmark Supreme Court case Citizens to Preserve Overton Park Inc vs Volpe (me US Transportation Secretary) turned on lack of evidence that federal and state highway planners had exhausted alternatives to the park route before choosing that route In a frill trial in US District Court in Memphis in the fall of 1971 Citizens to Preserve Overton Park offered testimony about me potential harm of me park route and me feasibility of alternatives The Supreme Court case was ground-breaking because it established a new and broader scope for judicial review of the administrative decisions of government agencies It became one of the most frequently cited Supreme Court cases in the areas of administrative and environmental law and helped change the way highway construction projects are planned and reviewed Now a detailed environmental impact report must be done on federally funded projects that affect protected resources such athe environment wet- "4s Jji i 1 North south east and westevety part of the Memphis area has something to show far federal transportation dollars that came to the community in fieu of completing Interstate 40 through Overton Park According to umco or nonnvig ano uovoiopmont recoros tno interstate substitution program has genafatod about ti 130 million for road and pubic transit projects over the past IGyears Among the projects: Nonconnah Parkway Interstate 240 South to US 72 $8615665 Jackson AvenueAustin Peay Interstate 40 to Raleigh-Millington $37861387 Main Street Troiley and Riverfront Loop $3310276 KirbyWhitten US 64 to Macon $3216348 Germantown RoadParkway Farmington to US 64 $30862135 1-240 South Airways to Summer $30193974 Six roads: Winchester MiObranch She by Drive Quince Raieigh-Frayser Austin Peay $2143(1286 Millbranch Brooks to 1-240 Auction Avenue Bridge Front to Mud Island $11101433 Hickory Hill winchester to Holmes $9744833 South Third Shelby Drive to Interstate 55 $7620453 Airways Holmes to state Kne $27971 Egypt Central Ridgemont to Raleigh-Millington $181998 New ramps linking HO and Riverside Drive downtown $727048 The Avenue of the Anlmale stands In the path proposed for 1-40 nnett also emphasized that it is county-own not park land However the own brochures refer to Shelby Farms as a public recreation area and signs near me proposed Kirby route advertise a public kite-flying area and bicycle trail The roots of the Kirby Parkway controversy actually lie in a compromise By Leigh Daugtitridgo a constant stream of care lands historical or archeological sites A final environmental impact statement was approved by federal highway officials in March for the proposed revamp of me 1-40240 Midtown interchange It is 2 Vi inches thick and ex bridge over the Mississippi River three miles north of downtown so through-traffic can avoid me Midtown inter- change The study of alternatives was required because me proposed interchange improvements would take out 49 residential units including at least eight homes that are eligible for federal historic status 1 A federal DOT memo concludes with the blessing that ultimately eluded Overton Park expressway supporters: concur that there are no feasible and prudent alternatives to the use of land from me Galloway-Speedway and Speedway Terrace Historic Districts ana that the project incorporates all possible plai minimize So when Skip Hanover and Charles Newman look at Overton Park and offer starkly different conclusions right? John Vergos said he thinks me road system functions well without the east-west expressway far as I can tell mere are no traffic problems within Memphis inside me expressways It (1-40 through From Page A16 Park ration date Maybe that helps explain why a motorist cannot drive through Memphis on Interstate 40 or 55 on continuous multilane roads Each interstate includes sections where motorists must navigate a one-lane reduced-speed ramp in order to stay on me designated inter-state I thing that has hurt Memphis is me system being so full of discontinuities" said of Lipinski who has forked on studies of me Midtown interchange and Sam Cooper Boulevard for TDOT roads have a design that was appropriate to tne time when they were designed but not appropriate he lidded The Nashville exit at me I-40240 Midtown interchange is notorious because of me multiple-fatality crash on Dec 23 1988 An eastbound truck hauling propane went out of control in a 25-mph curve and smashed into an Autumn Avenue bridge pier The tank ruptured and exploded in a fireball i The environmental impact Statement for me Midtown interchange project says there were 426 accidents responsible for 178 injuries and two fatalities from 1991 to 1993 at me interchange and its Overton Park) would have made it easier for people to leave downtown It would have encouraged urban The councilman said me city afford to fix every situation that slows or stops traffic He cited a proposed project to build an overpass so Highland Street traffic get stopped at me railroad tracks on Southern i near of problems are just not solvable without throwing lots of public money at mem said City Engineer John Conroy said the Overton Park expressway case has turned out to be a mixed bag for me city and its transportation system the perspective of transportation what got now is not as good as what we would have had if it had come straight through the.