I read this on friendsofshelbyfarms.org and thought some of you may be interested. I am going to write someone about it because I think the bike path is a good idea.



If you think that bike and pedestrian access to and from Shelby Farms Park is important then WE NEED YOUR HELP NOW!
The project to widen Walnut Grove Road to 10 lanes between the I-240 interchange and the bridge entering Shelby Farms Park is scheduled to begin in March of 2005. If the city does not take advantage of this opportunity to add a separated, safe bike and pedestrian lane along one side of Walnut Grove and into the park now, it probably won’t happen in your lifetime.

If we are to keep Shelby Farms Park connected to the neighborhoods that surround it and help create a city with world-class amenities, YOUR VOICE MUST BE HEARD!

The bike/ped lane is not just for access to Shelby Farms Park, it will connect central Memphis to east Memphis and Cordova. Schools, employment centers, parks, stores, libraries and other institutions will benefit, as well as cyclists, walkers and the disabled. Future road design considerations should also allow safe access into Shelby Farms Park for the abandoned CSX railroad line (which may become light rail or trail or both), the Wolf River Greenway as well as neighborhoods north of Mullins Station and east of Germantown Parkway.

Please help to prevent a short-sighted government decision with long-term negative impact. Call, email, fax, or write to your city and state officials. Let them know that you want bike and pedestrian access along Walnut Grove Road and into Shelby Farms Park. Simply tear off the sample letter below, make copies, fill in the names given below, and mail them in.

Willie. W. Herenton
Memphis Mayor
125 N. Main, Suite 700
Memphis, TN 38103
P: (901)576-6000
F: (901)576-6555
mayor@cityofmemphis.org

Wain Gaskins
Memphis City Engineer
125 N. Main, Suite 644
Memphis, TN 38103
P: (901)576-6700
F: (901)576-6960
engineering@cityofmemphis.org

Ed Cole
Chief of Environment & Planning
505 Deaderick
Nashville, TN 37243
P: (615) 741-2848
F: (615) 741-2608
TDOT.Comments@state.tn.us



Thank you for all of your support!
Friends of Shelby Farms Park



Dear_______________________________,

(Add your own words-points of view if you so wish)

Bike and pedestrian access into and from Shelby Farms Park is important to me. Therefore, as a citizen of the state of Tennessee and Shelby County I am asking you to accommodate the needs of the people in Shelby County by building bike and pedestrian access along Walnut Grove Road to and from Shelby Farms Park.

Sincerely, __________________________________________

I got this letter back from the State.


Dear Mr. Webb,

Thank you for your interest in including bicycle and pedestrian paths
within the Walnut Grove road project. I am forwarding this e-mail to my
Assistant Chief of Environment and Planning, Mr. Dennis Cook,(
615-741-2848) who has been working with this project very closely. I
have asked Mr. Cook to respond back to you and give you more information
about the design of this road.

Again, thanks for your interest in developing multi-modal facilities
within Memphis.


Sincerely,
Ed Cole
Chief of Environment and Planning
615-741-2848

Do you even own a bike?

DC

How do you type with a vodka in both hands?

BW aren't you the one with the vodka problem? Or is that Borscht?

I usually use a straw and drink right from the bottle, sometimes I use one of those hats with the cup holders and straws attached--that works good too. Occasionally I have my wife bring me a drink, of course you don't have that option...at least not YET.

DC

Don't worry DC......

She'll be throwing the drinks in no time.....

Just you wait-n-see!! AAAAAIIIIIEEEEEE!!


Personally, I'm glad Brad doesn't have a bike.....


those visuals are tres shocking!! ;p

Get a freaking bike! It looks good on your car, and even it doesn't get used much..throw on some mud, noone will be the wiser. Nothing like a round of golf after a good 10 mile plus ride...eh?

Sounds like a damn Canadian

Ho Ho Ho...laugh about my bike path topic all you want. It's called networking. It's called I scratch your bike, you scratch mine. :P Anyway, I would love to see a bike path along Walnut Grove. I DO own a bike and I steal Dave's. It looks like I am having more success with bike paths than I am with disc golf courses. Here is the latest. :D This letter is from Dennis Cook of the State of TN.




Mr. Webb-We agree that adequate bicycle access for Shelby County
residents to Shelby Farms Park is highly desirable. To that end, this
office recently met with Wain Gaskins,City of Memphis Engineer,the
design consultant for the Walnut Grove projce,an MPO representative, and
Mr. Bob fMurphy to finalize agreement to study alternatives to providing
such access.Possible modifications to the Walnut Grove project will be
pursued as well as other options. The scope of work for this effort
will be shared with the MPO Bikeway Committe for their input as well as
draft options for consideration.

>>> Cole, Ed (Julie Lamb) 1/25/2005 3:56:53 PM >>>
Dear Mr. Webb,

Thank you for your interest in including bicycle and pedestrian paths
within the Walnut Grove road project. I am forwarding this e-mail to my
Assistant Chief of Environment and Planning, Mr. Dennis Cook,(
615-741-2848) who has been working with this project very closely. I
have asked Mr. Cook to respond back to you and give you more information
about the design of this road.

Again, thanks for your interest in developing multi-modal facilities
within Memphis.


Sincerely,
Ed Cole
Chief of Environment and Planning
615-741-2848


>>> <MemphisDiscgolf@aol.com> 1/21/2005 2:54:33 PM >>>
Dear Wain Gaskins and Ed Cole,

Please add bike access to the plans to expand Walnut Groove thru
Shelby
Farms in Memphis, TN. This would be a great thing for Memphis and is a
perfect
idea to help the people of Memphis be more healthy and more enviroment
friendly.

Bike and pedestrian access into and from Shelby Farms Park is
important to
me. Therefore, as a citizen of the state of Tennessee and Shelby
County I am
asking you to accommodate the needs of the people in Shelby County by
building
bike and pedestrian access along Walnut Grove Road to and from Shelby
Farms
Park.

Sincerely,
Brad Webb
Memphis, TN

YOU GO BOY!!

Walnut Groove? Who do I send a letter to to get the name changed to Walnut Groove?!? Now that would be sweet!

Keep up the good work Brad. If we could only get these people to realize how much USE the park would gain from a disc golf course, we would be in business,

DC

The President of Friends of Shelby Farms wants to meet with me and talk about disc golf.

Brad

Could we send someone who is not "retired"

DC

I am rolling on the ground DC, nice BURNNN!

Brad, that's great man, I just hope the friggan proposed BIKE PATH that you want to put in won't interfere with the non-existent DISC GOLF course.


nelly

We have got to get a course in this park!

I have a suspicion that when Brad "retires" from disc golf in the winter, he takes up cycling behind our backs. He once kept two of my mountain bikes for a year and a half. Now that is someone with a secret cycling addiction.

DC

Every night I cry into my pillow that there is no disc golf course there. Well...that's not why but I do cry into my pillow every night.

You Can Help Guarantee Bike/Ped Access to the Park!

Foot-dragging on the part of the City of Memphis and Tennessee Department of Transportation is limiting options for safe alternative transportation, pedestrian and bicycle access to Shelby Farms Park and the proposed Wolf River Greenway. The Walnut Grove Road enlargement project between I240 and Shelby Farms Park will officially begin on June 3rd with no plans to include bike/ped access. Many deadlines have been missed for incorporating simple design changes to safely accommodate bikes, pedestrians and people with disabilities. A bike/ped lane has been added to the bridge design as it crosses the Wolf River into the park, but unless we act now, there may be no safe way to reach the bridge from Walnut Grove Road! Please write to Ed Cole, Wain Gaskins and Mayor Herenton and express your strong desire that bike/ped access be included in the design along Walnut Grove Road.

so did you ever meet with the president of Friends of Shelby Farms?

It is so short-sighted that the only way you can access the many bike trails at Shelby Farms is by transporting your bike there on the back of your car. I can ride my bike down the Wolf River Greenbelt trail, and then down the sidewalk to the intersection of Walnut Grove and Humphreys Blvd., but I can't go over the river to the park, because it is against the law, and dangerous, besides. I can go through the Agricenter, and then cross Walnut Grove on Farm Road, but that is dangerous too, just not against the law. It's just plain stupid to deny bike and pedestrian access to the park for the citizens of Memphis. I've sent my e-mails to the involved parties, and urge you to do the same. As Brad said, if it doesn't happen with this project, it won't happen in your lifetime.