MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Riverside Drive will look a lot different when it reopens next month.
A section of the roadway has been reduced from four to two lanes of traffic to make room for nearly two dozen additional parking spaces next to Tom Lee Park.
Riverside, between Beale Street and Georgia Avenue, has been closed since mid-April due to festivals downtown and road construction, and it won’t reopen until August 15.
It appears that much of the road construction is done. There are now 89 diagonal public parking spaces along the riverfront.
The city stated that the new public parking would feature a mix of paid and free parking days, and the changes to Riverside would improve the street’s accessibility and usability.
More than $62 million was spent to renovate Tom Lee Park, but the project eliminated two parking lots and 133 parking spaces.
The Downtown Neighborhood Association, which had complained about a lack of parking for the park, was in favor of the changes to Riverside Drive.
“Seventy percent of the neighborhood —stakeholders, businesses, and residents—said they would support a two-lane Riverside Drive from Beale Street to Georgia, as long as it incorporated more parking,” Downtown Neighborhood Association of Memphis’ President, Jerred Price, said.
The Memphis River Parks Partnership, which manages the park, told WREG that there are more than 2,000 additional parking spaces within a couple of blocks of the park. However, most of these are paid parking spots.