MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Could there finally be a solution to the ongoing feud in Overton Park between those who support a grassy area known as the Greensward and the Memphis Zoo, which uses the grass for parking on busy days?
Park supporters, known as the Overton Park Conservancy, have released some possible solutions.
A report they had experts put together contains a list of parking alternatives as well as other transportation changes at Overton Park.
“Without this we had a lot of opinions about what solutions looked like and we really needed some experts,” said Tina Sullivan, the executive director of the Overton Park Conservancy.
Recently opinions on zoo parking that have become heated, especially in recent weekends. Protesters of overflow parking on the Overton Greensward have gotten so heated they’ve blocked traffic.
The more than 40-page report offers a range of parking options at Overton Park and around the park.
The report cost the conservancy $75,000 to create. Looking at the report, it’s clear there’s no overnight parking solution at the Greensward, but Sullivan said the goal is to eventually scale it back to ultimately no parking at the Greensward.
“The plan shows some bike, pedestrian improvements, explores the use of shuttles again,” said Sullivan.
A team of local transportation and planning experts also proposed more ambitious changes like a multimillion-dollar parking garage and adding parking to outside roads like North Parkway and residential street Galloway.
“I know yesterday we had a huge van park midways out, which was blocking half my parents driveway,” said Patrice Pendergast, whose parents live along Galloway.
People WREG talked to said on a nice weekend, the road is already filled with zoo-goers. They hadn’t really considered organized parking.
“Striping might solve a little bit of the problem as far as spacing of the cars and that kind of thing. It could potentially crowd more cars in,” said Pendergast.
However, parking on residential streets at this time is still just part of a plan the zoo said it just started looking at and hasn’t been able to fully review.
“There are considerable things that are in the report that have actually been proposed before, so we just need to read over and see any changes or any new ideas that might’ve come to fruition,” said Laura Doty, a spokesperson with the Zoo.
Sullivan said the report should be looked at as a menu, and now this gives people a place to have more open discussions.
Nothing has been formally approved and would need to go through several channels for changes to be made. The conservancy board is meeting Monday to go over the report.