West Memphis/Marion, AR

[vbfl85]

I am aware that they have their foot in the door with the auto industry, however outside of industrial development it doesnt seem that there's much going on over there. The reason im curious is that it's extremly close to downtown Memphis and would be ideal for people looking to find more affordable housing and being able to make it downtown in a matter of minutes. I know that desoto county ms has seen alot of development and its much farther from the city center. Does the mississippi river create a psychological barrier that keeps west memphis/marion as an outcast from the rest of the metro?

[sleepy]

Marion is growing at a good clip as a bedroom community, but most of the county is viewed as an industrial suburb. Also, there is a flood plain of about 3 or 4 miles in AR which is cotton fields before you get to the levee and West Memphis/Marion.

I also think you're correct that the river creates a psychological barrier. Memphis and DeSoto Co. MS share street names and so on, and are much more connected transportation-wise. Memphis has always had more cultural and social connections it seems with MS than AR.

[TennBear]

I think that we could also add in that the business center of Memphis is much further to the East and makes Arkansas more distant. I'm not certain, but taxes also had a role at one time in why the Arkansas side was slow to grow. While it would be neat to have levees moved up on the Arkansas side closer to the river itself where you could have homes with views of the entire skyline. The only problem would be that the homes on Mud Island might find themselves at Flood Stage.

[tatersmith]

I am aware that they have their foot in the door with the auto industry, however outside of industrial development it doesnt seem that there's much going on over there. The reason im curious is that it's extremly close to downtown Memphis and would be ideal for people looking to find more affordable housing and being able to make it downtown in a matter of minutes. I know that desoto county ms has seen alot of development and its much farther from the city center. Does the mississippi river create a psychological barrier that keeps west memphis/marion as an outcast from the rest of the metro?

I think it has more to do with a terrible transportation infrastructure between Memphis and W. Memphis than any psychological issues. Mississippi has multiple surface street corridors and a couple of major interstate-type corridors (I-55 and Hwy 78). IMHO this plus the cheap land plus the casinos has helped Desoto County grow faster than Crittendon Cty.

[vbfl85]

The infrastructure between W. Memphis and Memphis isnt horrible, there are 2 interstates and 1 rail bridge that im aware of. I was looking around on google earth and noticed that there are 3 interstate quality roadways (Hwy 385, Hwy 300, and Future i69 in Ms) that look as if they were designed to be extended westward across the river. Does anyone know if they plan to build in new river bridges in the future?

[Bears]

The infrastructure between W. Memphis and Memphis isnt horrible, there are 2 interstates and 1 rail bridge that im aware of. I was looking around on google earth and noticed that there are 3 interstate quality roadways (Hwy 385, Hwy 300, and Future i69 in Ms) that look as if they were designed to be extended westward across the river. Does anyone know if they plan to build in new river bridges in the future?

Arkansas doesn't have absolutley horrible connections but there are only two ways from anywhere on the east side of the metro to Arkansas. But you have 30+ ways to enter Mississippi. Mississippi obviously has better connection thus its more intergrated into the Memphis grid and growth patterns. I know there is talk of a third bridge somewhere and they have 10 potential sites but I dunno where they are. I-69 will have a new bridge but thats down in Tunica, Mississippi.

[vbfl85]

I-69 will have a new bridge but thats down in Tunica, Mississippi.

I thought i69 was going to cross farther south, around Cleveland, Ms. Will there be a spur off of i69 that will create a bridge in tunica, ms?

[Bears]

^I always thought they were building a bridge in Tunica but according to this map http://www.i69info.com/maps/siu11-pm3.png its gonna be built in Benoit, Mississippi near Cleveland.

[mandrws1]

The infrastructure between W. Memphis and Memphis isnt horrible, there are 2 interstates and 1 rail bridge that im aware of.

I think there are 2 rail bridges. The Frisco and Harahan? Someone please correct me if wrong.

[Clobber]

The infrastructure between W. Memphis and Memphis isnt horrible, there are 2 interstates and 1 rail bridge that im aware of. I was looking around on google earth and noticed that there are 3 interstate quality roadways (Hwy 385, Hwy 300, and Future i69 in Ms) that look as if they were designed to be extended westward across the river. Does anyone know if they plan to build in new river bridges in the future?

I know that the CA has said in the past they are considering adding two. At least one must be in the immediate metro area. Maybe in the southern portion. Another one needs to be north of here because of how few crossings there are, not just in Memphis, but I think between Missouri and Memphis, there is only one other crossing.

[sleepy]

I think there are 2 rail bridges. The Frisco and Harahan? Someone please correct me if wrong.

No, there's only one railroad bridge. That third bridge is unused. I think it would be nice to turn it into a pedestrian/bike bridge.

[ricky_the_great]

No, there's only one railroad bridge. That third bridge is unused. I think it would be nice to turn it into a pedestrian/bike bridge.

no i do believe youre wrong.

Frisco carrys rail.

Memphis-Arkansas is I55

and Harahan was rail initially, then automobile, and now its back to rail.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harahan_Bridge

[tatersmith]

The infrastructure between W. Memphis and Memphis isnt horrible, there are 2 interstates and 1 rail bridge that im aware of. I was looking around on google earth and noticed that there are 3 interstate quality roadways (Hwy 385, Hwy 300, and Future i69 in Ms) that look as if they were designed to be extended westward across the river. Does anyone know if they plan to build in new river bridges in the future?

Compared to the many surface streets, I-55, Hwy 78, Hwy 72 and Hwy 61 it's more difficult to access W. Memphis. In addition, the remnants of the I-40 Midtown debacle (which is finally being resolved) has been a traffic snarl for 20 years. I-55 drops you on the south end of Downtown. Huge psychological barrier there (though it's not as bad as you think..I bike down there some). I was referring to W Memphis being a relatively difficult place to live unless you work downtown.

Finally, the money in Memphis is out east. My office is out here along with one of our "stores". 50% of our employees live in Mississippi.

[vbfl85]

In addition, the remnants of the I-40 Midtown debacle (which is finally being resolved) has been a traffic snarl for 20 years.

Wasnt i40 originally designed to travel straight through Memphis down the current Sam Cooper Blvd? And if so do they ever plan on completing it through midtown, or is there too much development in the way?

[tatersmith]

Wasnt i40 originally designed to travel straight through Memphis down the current Sam Cooper Blvd? And if so do they ever plan on completing it through midtown, or is there too much development in the way?

A lawsuit by some Midtown residents stopped I-40 a couple of miles east of Overton Park (where Sam Cooper ends) and at the current Midtown I-40/240 junction where all the construction is going on (they are finally turning that into a proper intersection instead of leaving what was left when Midtown I-40 was stopped). The construction was halted in the late 70s? after a lot of land in Midtown was acquired and homes were demolished. It's debatable whether it's good or bad for Memphis. I personally believe it's good that they didn't cut Overton Park in half with it. My original argument that it killed Downtown is invalid with its rebirth.

From wikipedia about I-40:

"In Memphis, I-40 was originally intended to go through the city's Overton Park toward downtown. Several miles of interstate were actually built within the I-240 loop; this portion of highway still exists and is in regular use as Sam Cooper Boulevard, reaching the eastern end of Chickasaw Country Club. Public opposition, combined with a court victory by opponents of the Overton Park route, forced abandonment of the original plans, and the road never reached the park. For several years, I-40 signage existed on the dead-end route toward Overton Park. Eventually, the northern portion of the I-240 loop was redesignated as I-40."

[sleepy]

The case ended in 1974 in the Supreme Court with Friends of Overton Park v. Volpe--a famous environmental case.

It would have destroyed midtown in my opinion. Good thing is, where all those homes were knocked down, there's nothing but infill which is indistinguisable from the original.

Ironic, too, that the funds allocated for that route were given instead to the city which used them to build its downtown streetcar system.

[cdarr]

Numerous alternatives were drawn up for routing I-40 through, around, over, and even under Overton Park. The first and second would have destroyed the park and/or more neighborhoods; the third and forth alternatives were prohibitively expensive.

The highway should have never been designed along that path in the first place. The interstate planners actually did a good job with the rest of Memphis' interstate system, running much of it along the floodplains of Nonconnah Creek and the Wolf River and sparing neighborhoods. I think they took aim on Overton Park because it was directly aligned with where the DeSoto Bridge had to be built over the river. If they had just designated the northern loop as I-40 and designed all the interchanges to route traffic along that corridor, eight miles of neighborhoods wouldn't have been needlessly bulldozed away and our interstate system would function far more efficiently that it does today.