Tuesday, July 7, 2009
CSX Concerns
Posted by Mary Cashiola on Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 10:59 AM
Representatives from the Shelby Farms Park Conservancy and the Greater Memphis Greenline heard community concerns, most over safety and security, about the new CSX Greenway last night at a standing-room-only meeting.
The 6.5-mile trail will run from Tillman to Shelby Farms Park. The property should be purchased from CSX — which vacated the rail line in 2002 — within the next 60 days, and construction should begin by the end of the year.
Shelby County mayor A C Wharton, representatives from area law enforcement, and several county commissioners attended the meeting at the Central Library, as well as more than a hundred local residents, some of them cyclists and walkers and some of them residents with homes adjacent to the CSX property.
"The trail will not open until we have a comprehensive security plan in place," Wharton told those assembled. "This is more to this than just saying, let's get a trail. This is going to bring neighbors together. ... it's about connecting citizens to sidewalks instead of sofas."
National greenway expert Robert Searns, who has more than three decades of experience with trails, provided evidence that crime generally decreases after the installation of a greenline and that property values increase.
He also said that greenlines attract business development and cited a statistic that for every $1 a community puts into a greenway, it gets $3 back in revenue.
Residents with safety concerns were not convinced.
Representatives from MPD and the Sheriff's Office said the greenway would be closed to users after dark, and that they plan to install themal imaging cameras, and perhaps even loud speakers, on the property. They also said that most of the criminal behavior that neighbors are worried about, such as graffiti and drug use, are already occurring on the property.
Shelby Farms Park executive director Rick Masson also noted that barriers would keep vehicles off the property.
"The key will be to keep vehicles off," Masson said. "Generally, thieves are people who don't like to carry stuff. They like their cars nearby."
Homeowners also had privacy concerns, especially about a stretch of the trail that is at a higher grade than the tops of backyard fences. Richie Smith, designer for the first phase the project, said they would probably plant a fence of shrubbery near the trail to alleviate those concerns.
"Ninety percent of the trail route is screened right now," he said. "It's a vigorous ecological system, so a lot of it can be left alone."
Smith also pointed to downtown's Bluff Walk as place where a public amenity coincides within 20 feet of some of the most high-end residences in Memphis.
There is another meeting tonight from 6 - 8 p.m. at Agricenter International on Walnut Grove. I assume they will be following a similar format to last night: an hour of information about the proposal and greenlines in general and about 30 minutes for comments and concerns.
On a personal note: My favorite moment of the meeting was when someone's phone went off, and the ringtone was Queen's Bicycle Race.
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Thanks for the update. I hope the NIMBYs get their act together! And I hope the criminals don't start investing in personal dollies after that Masson comment!
Criminals don't like dollies. Well, except for some of them ...
I'd just point out two things.
Your comment that "residents with safety concerns were not convinced" is left entirely unsubstantiated, with no example or quotations. I was at the meeting, and it seemed like there was a great effort to help answer these concerns when they were brought up. I'm certain there may have been individuals who left less than 100% satisfied, but your vague, unsubstantiated line is simply irresponsible.
Also, about this paragraph:
"Homeowners also had privacy concerns, especially about a stretch of the trail that is at a higher grade than the tops of backyard fences. Richie Smith, designer for the first phase the project, said they would probably plant a fence of shrubbery near the trail to alleviate those concerns."
One, your insertion of the word probably is unfair. From what I understood, they will DEFINITELY do something about the privacy, but they were only laying out several PROBABLE OPTIONS.
Two, he didn't talk about "shrubbery": he talked about 7 foot tall evergreen trees that would create a solid green wall to protect sightlines. Your lack of specifics and vague word choice are used to skew the portrayal, and that is, again, irresponsible.
Where any comments or resolutions discussed about how interesections like where the greenline crosses Highland would be addressed? If the greenline continues it will also cross Germantown Road which would also require a solution.
Thanks for the report.
I think some residents were convinced by law enforcement's assurances, but I also know there were some who definitely were not.
As to the shrubbery, there were two options to shield the sight lines: bushes near the trail or evergreen trees closer to the homes. But Smith said the bushes were more likely. Thus the probably.
Kermit, the five at-grade street crossings would be addressed with striping, barricades against vehicles coming on the greenline, and probably, because this is just a proposal, solar-powered crosswalks that would be activated as a pedestrian or cyclist came up to the crossing.
But planners have already said that Highland will be the most challenging (in the first phase of the greenline) b/c users will have to cross four lanes of traffic.
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