Harahan Bridge plan gets boost from local philanthropists | News

(WMC-TV) – A local philanthropy group is going to help make it easier for people to bike across the Mississippi River.

The Hyde Family Foundations have pledged $250,000 to help turn the Harahan Bridge into a bike and pedestrian bridge crossing the Mississippi River.

The project, formally called the Main Street to Main Street Multimodal Connector, is the centerpiece of a plan that will ultimately make it possible for someone to cycle from Shelby Farms all the way to Arkansas. The project recently received a nearly $15 million grant from the federal government.

“The Harahan Bridge will be an unparalleled attraction on our riverfront and will allow Memphians and visitors alike the opportunity to connect to the river in a new and exciting way,” said Barbara Hyde, president of the Hyde Family Foundations. “It also provides a critical link in the rapidly expanding network of trails, greenways, bike lanes, open spaces and parks that is connecting our community.”

The Harahan Bridge still helps gives trains a way to cross the Mississippi River and workers will have to make it safe for cyclists and pedestrians to use the bridge too.

Planners say and once the project is finished, pedestrians and cyclists will be physically separated from the 20 to 25 locomotives that still cross the bridge every day.

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