Congressman Cohen Announces $2.6 Million Neighborhood Access and Equity Grant
Funding to reconnect North Memphis neighborhoods divided by Interstate 40
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today announced that the Memphis and Shelby County Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) will receive a Neighborhood Access and Equity (NAE) grant of $2,693,160 for the Over and Under I-40 project, in which the CRA will lead a community-driven planning effort to mitigate the impacts of Interstate 40 (I-40) for seven historically African American and disadvantaged North Memphis neighborhoods including Klondike, Smokey City, New Chicago, North Parkway-Forest, Speedway Terrace, Medical District and Crosstown. Through the proposed planning process, CRA will hire a team of transportation planners, engineers, landscape architects, and local artists to assist these communities in redefining North Memphis’s relationship with I-40 and develop actionable solutions that provide a safe, vibrant experience for residents and their vision for their community including improving pedestrian and bike infrastructure, reimagining perilous pedestrian bridges, and exploring measures to turn adjacent vacant lots into a network of environmentally beneficial green spaces with trails.
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) established the NAE program, allocating $3.155 billion in funding. Among current members of the Tennessee Congressional delegation, only Congressman Cohen supported the measure.
Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
“The neighborhoods of North Memphis are seeing an unprecedented level of federal investment addressing historic inequities that will improve their economic prospects and livability. These substantial investments will restore a sense of neighborhood in a focused strategy aimed at their revitalization. I am pleased to see the DOT making this funding a priority and to see the CRA moving forward with this community-directed improvement program in North Memphis.”
Memphis Mayor Paul Young made the following statement:
“This is a huge opportunity to improve some of our North Memphis neighborhoods. It will help reconnect historic African American communities along the I-40 corridor, including New Chicago, Klondike, Smokey City, and the Medical District. It will also allow us to tie into the work in Uptown, Chelsea Greenline, Wolf River Greenway, Northside, and other projects that will help enhance the lives of our residents in a major way and align with the Memphis 3.O plan.”
Mr. Andrew Murray, President of the CRA said:
“The awarding of this grant is the result of a multi-year process of community-based planning and implementation in North Memphis by the City of Memphis and Shelby County through their Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA). The grant is a downpayment of reinvestment in knitting back together the historic African American neighborhoods that were divided by the interstate and subjected to environmental harm, degradation, disinvestment, and isolation. Winning this grant is a testament to the power of community voices and the faithful determination of neighborhood residents. From the Sanitation Workers Strike of 1968, to the landmark case, Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe, Memphians have demonstrated the importance of advocating to preserve neighborhoods and protect and invest in communities. We are excited to stand on this history here in Memphis as we restore, reconnect, and reinvest.”
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