A pedestrian bridge is set to be built over Southern and the railroad tracks on the U of M campus.
Tony Poteet, U of M vice president of campus planning and design, said the bridge will be the safest option for students to get to and from the new parking lot that is set to be built.
“The bridge will be the safest link between the main core of campus and the new parking garage and new recreation center,” Poteet said.
Poteet also said that construction for the bridge will begin in October of this year, and will take some time to be built.
“It will take approximately one year to build,” Poteet said.
The bridge will be 200 feet long and will be up to 20 feet wide and 23 feet above the railroad tracks. It will have two 80 foot tall parallel pylons that will angle slightly across the south edge of Southern Avenue, as well as ten strands of stainless steel cables, five on each side of the bridge, that will fan out and down from the top of the weight-bearing towers, according to The Commercial Appeal.
In addition the bridge will extend from present day Southern Avenue parking lot, over the railroad tracks to the mall area next to the UC, and will connect the north and south sections of campus, according to the Memphis Business Journal.
The bridge will cost $18 million, according to the Journal, and will be funded through the Tennessee State School Bond Authority. The funds will be paid back through additional student debt service fees.
Some students, like 19-year-old nursing freshmen Kayla Anderson think the bridge is an overall good idea.
“I think the bridge would be a good thing,” Anderson said. “It’d be a lot safer.”
However, 20-year-old theater major Ellie Boisseau said the money being collected for the bridge should be used more wisely.
“I see what they’re doing and how they think the bridge is a good idea, but I personally don’t think it’s worth it,” Boisseau said.
Theater sophomore Blake Currie, 19, said the money for the bridge should be used for more important things happening on campus.
“It is superfluous spending,” Currie said.
The University of Memphis plans to start construction of an $18 million bridge in October. The bridge will stretch from current Echles Street, over the railroad tracks, to the UC lawn.
