this broadway viaduct bridge project is quite embarassing

Just months after Nashville adopted a vision zero plan, TDOT and NDOT are choosing to replace the Broadway Viaduct bridge with a seven-lane superhighway instead of providing safe convenient multimodal connections on this already high-utilized route. While this plan does call for some “slightly less than 10’ sidewalks”, the design should also incorporate dedicated and concrete protected bike lanes for use by cyclists and scooters, and other design elements to ensure safety for all road users.

As you can see on Page 33 of the Nashville State of Downtown Mobility Report, this stretch of roadway is the most traveled by scooters every day:

(View the full report here: https://www.nashville.gov/sites/default/files/2022-11/Nashville_State_of_Downtown_Mobility_Report_FINAL_October2022.pdf?ct=1667405651).

While the sidewalks will make a slight improvement for pedestrians, the vast majority of the 300 daily scooter trips will likely opt to ride on the sidewalk instead of on the 7-lane roadway designed to maximize car speed, as they often do on other downtown streets without bike lanes. And I don’t blame them. Would you feel safe riding a scooter in the middle of a 7-lane highway?

If we are to accomplish our goal of becoming a Vision Zero city, we can’t wait another 50 years for this bridge to need replacing again to then decide to make it safe. We must act intentionally to incrementally improve the safety of our street network every time we build, repair, or replace a street.

We can’t wait another 50 years for this bridge to need replacing again to then decide to make it safe.

I hope Tuesday’s meeting is a productive one for TDOT, NDOT, and the council and look forward to seeing a revised design soon.

If we can’t design a safe street for all road users in the heart of downtown, how can we ever hope to have a safe walkable Murfreesboro Pike corridor or safe walkable community out in Antioch?

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This is the text of an email I sent to all metro council members two week ago. I sent a similar email to Diana Alarcon at NDOT, Shane Hester at TDOT, and TJ Ducklo & Ben Eagles with the Mayor's office. Multiple council members, the NDOT director, and a representative of TDOT responded to my email. No one from the mayor's office ever responded.

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Disclaimer: While I am an employee of Metro Nashville Public Schools, and therefore Metro Nashville Government, the views expressed on this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer or the city.