MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A multi-million dollar makeover for Elvis Presley Boulevard is potentially on pause, but state lawmakers say they’re pushing to get the project back on TDOT’s radar.

State Rep. Karen Camper and State Sen. Raumesh Akbari say they’re in the process of trying to set up a meeting with TDOT Commissioner Butch Eley to discuss the issue.

“We’re going to get to the Commissioner before that so that we are trying to be included in that proposed budget for next year when the plan is revisited and get Elvis Presley Boulevard back in the plan,” said House Minority Leader Camper, whose district covers Whitehaven.

For more than a decade, plans have been underway to widen and beautify a roughly three-mile stretch of Elvis Presley Boulevard from Brooks Road to Shelby Drive. Construction on the first phase of the project was completed in 2021.

However, work for the rest of the project, including a phase city leaders estimated would start this summer, is now in jeopardy after state transportation officials defunded it.

Nearly $20 million, according to the city’s latest calculations, was set aside to finish phase two of the project from Winchester to Craft Road. 

“Initially I was really upset because I remember how hard we fought it to get that money,” said Camper. “I remember personally going down Elvis Presley Boulevard, business to business to business, saying, ‘It’s coming, we’re working on it, don’t worry about it,’ and they have waited for years. Some of those businesses just are not even there anymore.”

She told WREG,

As first reported by the WREG Investigators, Tennessee Department of Transportation Spokesperson Nichole Lawrence said the Elvis Presley Boulevard Road Improvement Project isn’t included in TDOT’s new 10 year plan.

Lawrence said the agency redirected the money and put it back into the general fund because the project wasn’t ready when it was funded years ago. 

City leaders said they were shocked, and didn’t learn until recently the project had lost funding.

“No one communicated that to us. I mean, why would we proceed with the utility relocation,” said Public Works Director Robert Knecht during an interview in late May with WREG.

Camper says when funded projects aren’t shovel ready TDOT can hold the money or re-direct it and it’s her understanding they waited on the city.

“It was pushed off because of the Guest House project. It was pushed off for, you know, right-of-way issues. It was pushed off for a lot of reasons, which were probably all valid. So I’m not sure who dropped the ball,” she said.

Other state and local leaders are also weighing in on the loss of funding for Elvis Presley Boulevard including State Representative G.A. Hardaway.

“My last conversation with TDOT, this week, suggests that they still aren’t under way, in terms of, the city, they still are not underway in terms of putting a new plan in front of the state,” said Hardaway.

Memphis leaders say the project is important to Whitehaven, for residents and visitors alike.

“This is a very important part of Memphis tourism as you speak and particularly to the Whitehaven community and we’ve got to make sure on the city side we’re doing our part to be advocates for the citizens of Memphis to make sure this funding comes back,” said City Council member Jerri Green.

That is exactly what Representative Camper says she plans to do. 

As the governor starts preparing the next budget this summer, she wants Elvis Presley Boulevard on TDOT’s radar.

In the meantime, Camper says everyone who cares about the future of the famous roadway and Memphis for that matter, should hold their local and state leaders accountable for what hasn’t happened.

“Make your voices heard, because what I’ve learned is that when the people speak, people listen,” she said.

We’ve requested multiple interviews with Commissioner Eley but Lawrence told us his schedule was booked up.