Metro Nashville’s Transportation Plan proposes $1.6 billion in critical projects for community resilience, neighborhood livability, shared prosperity, and system preservation and performance. The plan proposes core categories for investment that reflect our communities’ and the region’s stated priorities: Mass transit, neighborhood infrastructure (sidewalks, bikeways, greenways), a “state of good repair” for roads and bridges, traffic operations and signals, and safety/Vision Zero.

Projects within the plan will be advanced via individual, opportunistic funding strategies, while more comprehensive, dedicated revenue streams—via the IMPROVE Act’s authorizing mechanism for referendums, or other available legal framework—can be pursued in a future year once America’s economy recovers from the pandemic-induced downturn.

In addition to a depth of contemporary feedback gathered from Nashvillians in 2020, the plan also rests on many years of careful study and community engagements through Metro’s adopted modal plans (nMotion, Access Nashville 2040, and WalkNBike).

Details of the plan include proposed investments in:

• A dramatic increase in frequency and span of service for the bus system, as outlined in WeGo’s Better Bus proposal—including up to ten Neighborhood Transit Centers that would enable access to new crosstown routes;
• 13 miles of Bus Rapid Transit on Murfreesboro Pike, from downtown to Antioch/Hickory Hollow;
• 6.9 miles of Rapid Bus on Clarksville Pike, from downtown to Bordeaux/King’s Lane;
• Infrastructure to support more trips and a smoother ride on the WeGo Star commuter-rail line;
• System-performance measures such as: more sidewalks and crosswalks, a Traffic Operations Center and signal synchronization, bikeways, greenways, and safety fixes to aggressively drive down traffic injuries and fatalities;
• Maintaining a state-of-good-repair for existing bridges, culverts, and roadways;
• A bicycle/pedestrian-accessible Interstate cap to reconnect the bifurcated west and east sides of Historic North Nashville at Jefferson Street;
• “Test bed” corridors for green infrastructure/sustainability along Gallatin Pike, and for innovation/emerging-vehicle technologies along Charlotte Pike;
• A comprehensive planning effort for better mobility in and through downtown Nashville, including curb-space management, smart parking, and transit priority.

The Mayor’s administration is currently soliciting final input on this draft plan—and, barring prohibitive funding or engineering constraints—is open to making appropriate adjustments prior to its being considered by Metro Council for a vote of endorsement.

Link to the plan HERE.