MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A planned project to alleviate traffic at the I-55 interchange received a lot more support in Memphis than on the other side of the bridge.
On Thursday, the second of two public input meetings was held at the MATA Central Station downtown.
The turnout was similar to the first meeting held in West Memphis, but the opinions of those attending were vastly different.
In West Memphis, there were a lot of concerns about the fact the Memphis Arkansas Bridge would be closed for a nine-month period during construction.
At the meeting at MATA Central Station, many had a lot of support for the project, but little sympathy for West Memphians.
Sara Lewis, who lives in the French Fort neighborhood, had shared her thoughts with TDOT on their I-55 interchange project for 12 years and watched it evolve.
“My initial interest was when they told me they were going to take my house,” she said.
Original plans called for nine houses in that area to be taken.
Now, Lewis said she is thrilled with the new plan that would add a roundabout to relieve traffic without changing her neighborhood.
“We’re in this together,” she said. “We’re the ones who can’t get out of our neighborhoods in the morning for the traffic that’s coming across.”
Thursday, she was one of the dozens of people who showed up to MATA Central Station downtown for a public input meeting on the project.
“The interstate now, as it goes from I-55 to Crump, is not a free flowing system, and we want that interstate to continue to be a free-flowing system,” Nichole Lawrence with TDOT said.
While most said they were onboard with the project, some still had concerns.
“I want to ask them about the brick wall that’s going up, the sound barrier. Exactly how close is it going to be up on my property?” Memphis resident Marvin Housley asked.
When it comes to concerns voiced by West Memphians at the first meeting, Lewis said, “I don’t pay taxes in Arkansas. I pay them in Tennessee.”
Construction will start in the Spring next year.
The old bridge will shut down in Spring 2017.
