I-269 TENNESSEE A Regional Vision Study Completed January 2013 This document is available in accessible formats when requested five days in advance. This document was prepared and published by the Memphis Metropolitan Planning Organization and is prepared in cooperation with or with financial assistance from all or several of the following public enti- ties: the Federal Transit Administration, the Federal Highway Administration, the Tennessee and Mississippi Department of Transportation, the Memphis Area Transit Authority, and the local governments in the MPO region. This financial assistance notwithstanding, the contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the official view or policies of the funding agencies. It is the policy of the Memphis Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) not to dis- criminate on the basis of age, sex, race, color, national origin or disability in its hiring or employ- ment practices, or in its admission to or operations of its program, services, or activities. All inqui- ries for Title VI and/or the American Disabilities Act, contact John Paul Shaffer at (901) 576-7190 or [email protected]. Table of Contents CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...........................................................................................1 RESUMEN EJECTUTIVO ..........................................................................................9 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................19 CHAPTER 2: EXISTING CONDITIONS ....................................................................27 DESCRIPTION OF THE CORRIDOR ................................................................................ 28 STUDY AREA EXISTING PLANS AND ZONING ............................................................. 52 SUMMARY .................................................................................................................... 68 CHAPTER 3: FORMING A REGIONAL VISION ........................................................71 IMAGINE 2040 / DIRECTION 2040 ................................................................................ 72 DIRECTION 2040 LONG RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLAN .......................................... 72 IMAGINE 2040 – LAND USE AND SCENARIO PLANNING ............................................ 78 I-269 TN STEERING COMMITTEE .................................................................................. 81 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION .............................................................................................. 82 PUBLIC OUTREACH ...................................................................................................... 86 MEDIA OUTREACH ....................................................................................................... 87 DATA DISTRIBUTION .................................................................................................... 88 INTERACTIVE DEVICES................................................................................................. 89 PUBLIC QUESTIONNAIRE ............................................................................................. 89 CHAPTER 4: I-269 DEVELOPMENT SCENARIOS ....................................................93 PUBLIC SURVEY RESULTS ............................................................................................ 94 ECONOMIC VITALITY ............................................................................................................95 Table of Contents QUALITY OF LIFE ..................................................................................................................97 LAND USE PATTERNS ...........................................................................................................99 JURISDICTIONAL COLLABORATION ..................................................................................101 VISUAL PREFERENCE SURVEY ................................................................................... 101 I-269 TENNESSEE DEVELOPMENT SCENARIOS ......................................................... 102 BASE GROWTH SCENARIO .................................................................................................103 CITIZEN SCENARIO .............................................................................................................103 HIGH GROWTH SCENARIO .................................................................................................105 FOCUSED GROWTH SCENARIO ..........................................................................................106 LAND USE SUITABILITY AND ALLOCATION RESULTS .......................................................107 EVALUATING THE SCENARIOS ................................................................................... 110 MEASURES OF EFFECTIVENESS .........................................................................................110 PLANNING THEME – LAND USE PATTERN MOE .................................................................111 PLANNING THEME – QUALITY OF LIFE MOE .....................................................................114 PLANNING THEME – ECONOMIC VITALITY ........................................................................115 I-269 TRAVEL DEMAND MODEL RESULTS ..........................................................................115 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................129 CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................ 130 TOOLBOX FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT .................................................................... 133 APPENDIX A: I-269 STEERING COMMITTEE ........................................................139 APPENDIX B: PUBLIC QUESTIONNAIRE ..............................................................151 APPENDIX C: SCENARIO PLANNING AND PLACE TYPES ....................................177 APPENDIX D: DRAFT REVIEW COMMENTS .........................................................185 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Memphis Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization 2 Executive Summary CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION In an effort to help shape future development along the I-269 Corridor in Tennessee, the Transportation Policy Board (TPB) of the Memphis Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) recommended a study to look at how the jurisdictions along the Tennessee portion of I-269, would like to see the corridor developed. This was accomplished using a visioning and scenario planning process that encouraged citizens and communi- ties to explore and debate regional growth visions, trade-offs, and alternative future scenarios related to the I-269 Corridor in Tennessee. CHAPTER 2: EXISTING CONDITIONS The Memphis region has become one of the nation’s top multimodal transportation hubs, due to its inter- connected water, roadway, air, and rail infrastructure. Transportation facilities in the Memphis region must balance serving freight transportation as well as the area’s 1.2 million residents. Additionally, this must be done in a way that designed to reduce negative impacts to the region’s environment, existing communities, businesses, and residents. Interstate 269 was designed as a component of I-69, which will eventually connect Mexico to Canada across the United States, serving both domestic and international trade along the corridor. The I-269 loop was included to respond to local traffic growth and demands of the Memphis region and to provide access between communities in the region. The combination of I-69 through the center of Memphis and the I-269 loop around the city was designed to both alleviate congestion within the city while improving connectivity throughout the region and to provide an interconnected facility that will help attract new jobs to the region. I-269 is an approximately 64 mile long interstate facility through Desoto and Marshall Counties in Missis- sippi and Shelby and Fayette Counties in Tennessee. I-269, which is centered on the city of Memphis, begins in Hernando, Mississippi to the south and connects to Millington in northwest Shelby County, Tennessee. This study will examine only the portion of I-269 that lies within Tennessee, approximately 36.2 miles, and look in more detail at the 15 existing and planned interchanges along I-269 within Tennessee. In Chapter 2 Existing Conditions, an analysis was performed to examine employment, commuting pat- terns, traffic volumes, level of service, and crash data for a study area comprised of a one mile offset in each direction from the I-269 alignment. EMPLOYMENT AND COMMUTING PATTERNS As of 2010, the I-269 TN study area was home to approximately 10,500 workers, the majority of whom (95%) worked outside the study area. For those resident workers commuting outside of the study area to work, roughly 65% commute to the city of Memphis for their primary jobs. A similar commuting pattern is evident for the nearly 8,000 workers employed inside the I-269 Tennessee study area, with 94% of those workers commuting into the study area from residences outside. In contrast to the sectors of employment for residents of the study area, the jobs inside the study area lean somewhat more heavily toward manufac- turing and retail. The top sectors for employment within the I-269 study area in 2010 were: Manufacturing (26.6%); Retail Trade (18.5%); Health Care and Social Assistance (11.3%); Wholesale Trade (8.5%); Administra- tion & Support, Waste Management and Remediation (6.3%); and Construction