MEMPHIS, Tenn. — More help is on the way for walkers and drivers on a busy southwest Memphis thoroughfare: Holmes Road.
Late Monday afternoon, the Shelby County Commission approved adding a sidewalk at East Holmes and Easterly Lane.
The former pastor at nearby New Sardis Baptist first raised safety concerns to county commissioners in 2006.
That pastor's persistence paid off, as that sidewalk and other improvements on Holmes road will soon begin.
Commissioners approved $75,000 for that sidewalk on Holmes where it currently ends at The Grove of Stonebriar subdivision.
The project is also near Highland Oaks Elementary School and will complement a broader widening of Holmes itself between Riverdale Road and Hacks Cross Road, which the commission also recently approved.
"We want to make sure that our young people are protected as they go to and from school, we want to make sure churchgoers are protected as they go to and from service and just those who are generally walking or traveling down that part of East Holmes, we want to make sure they are protected and that area is as safe as possible," Shelby County Commissioner Van Turner said.
Those with the Shelby County Commission are hopeful the sidewalk and widening improvements will begin this summer.