Working with Heights residents to reimagine National Street
Heights Line is a neighborhood led initiative to create the longest linear park in Memphis along a former trolley line. The project will provide a much-needed public space amenity in North Memphis, and connect disinvested historic neighborhoods to nearby parks, urban centers, and transit routes. Heights Line will also provide the first urban connection between two of Memphis’ premier greenways – the $60 million Wolf River Greenway and the 13-mile Shelby Farms Greenline.
Local residents began work in 2017 by reclaiming excess road capacity and building a temporary demonstration of Heights Line. Completion of the permanent installation of the first phase from Summer Avenue to Macon is expected in Spring of 2024.
Contact
➤ LOCATION
National St. Memphis, TN
☎ CONTACT
info@heightscdc.org
(901) 730-6902
Safer, more attractive, and greater access
Safe
National Street is currently 92 feet wide with 60 feet committed to automobile traffic. With such wide lanes cars and trucks are prone to higher speeds making it unsafe for pedestrians and bicyclists.
National Street Cross Section (existing)
Children living west of National must cross the wide street when going to and from Treadwell School. When planning the redesign of National Street traffic counts and speed counts will be used to assess if the temporary project could make National Street safer.
“The Heights Line project will add even more safety for our students and families who have to cross National to get to school. National is a very wide street and narrowing the lanes and slowing the traffic will make things safer. We also support the creative placemaking aspect of the project because we need more recreational areas for people in the community especially west of Highland
”
Attractive
The Heights neighborhood currently lacks any accessible improved public space. Historically in Memphis, our streets provided the greatest source for social gathering, public life, and community identity. In recent decades, Memphis streets have lost much of their life and essence as they have become little more than automobile highways.
“Some roads are famous for fostering community life, as they bring people into casual, pleasant, and frequent face-to-face contact with one another. Many an ordinary Main Street used to do these services, but Main Streets have proved easily transformable into bleak, standardized community killers.”
The Heights Line project strives to recapture the dignity of National Street through design that is people-focused. We believe art, fun, and practicality can and should co-exist in Memphis streets. Heights Line is intended to demonstrate that this is possible for National Street.
Accessible
“The way people live is always a function of transportation.”
Streets make up the largest public space in our city. Safe, attractive, and accessible streets can foster public life, promote economic development, and improve social equity.
National Street is a critical link in the transportation system in Memphis. Although less than two miles long, National touches four transit lines, two state highways, a US highway, and connects to the Wolf River Greenway to the north and the Hampline to the south. But unfortunately the current design is not accommodating to most users. The Heights Line project envisions National Street as accessible to pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders, motorists, and other users. Reducing the number of vehicle travel lanes allows for the expansion of the median to create a protected, multi-use promenade.
“Investing in pedestrian infrastructure and promoting commercial development in the most walkable neighborhoods will yield the greatest dividends for cities through increased property revenue.”
