MEMPHIS, Tenn. — For Allison Schweizer, walking to class at the University of Memphis can be annoying.
“I`ve had a train stop for 8 minutes on the tracks. I`ve stopped one time and it was raining.”
Only once the train has passed can she cross the tracks and busy Southern Avenue and be on her way. But that could soon change as there’s plans for an new $18 million footbridge that will take student above traffic on one side of campus straight to the other.
“I know they used to have a problem with people climbing over the trains, so that`ll probably help,” said student Eric Towles.
The bridge won’t be the only new addition to campus. They’ll also be building a new 1100-spot parking garage and an amphitheater, helping to revitalize the university’s existing “alumni mall.”
“I think that this will — in this project — will formalize that mall, will re -landscape it, we`ll re-light it, we`ll put the ampitheatre in place and it`ll be a much more active space,” said Reb Haizlip from Haizlip Studio.
Construction will begin later this year and should wrap up in time of the Fall 2019 semester.