#12: Memphis’s I-40 and the Protected Greens of Overton Park
A beloved park is not just open land. It is shade, habit, childhood, Sunday walks, museums, animals, music, and memory. That is why the plan to route Interstate 40 through Overton Park in Memphis became such an important fight. Citizens challenged the project all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the case became a landmark in how environmental and public-land concerns were considered in federal transportation decisions. The interstate was not allowed to slice through the park as planned.
