NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure (NDOT) is seeking public feedback on two upcoming pedestrian and bicycle projects in Midtown.
One of those projects is Church Street Complete Street, which is part of Nashville's Vision Zero initiative. Vision Zero has been described as a Metro-wide initiative between NDOT and the Mayor's Office with the goal of eliminating all fatalities and serious injuries on Metro Nashville roads.
Church Street Complete Street's limits are from 8th Avenue and Rosa Parks Boulevard through 25th Avenue. Included within the limits are Nashville landmarks like the Rock Block and Centennial Park.
The project includes the planning, designing and implementation of protected lanes for cyclists and other micro-mobility device users, which NDOT said is one of several Complete Street designs.
"Complete streets are both a process and a product. The complete streets approach means that when we make changes to the street, we consider people of all ages and abilities, no matter how they choose to travel," the city's website reads, in part. "Not all complete streets look the same but you know it’s a complete streets project because it improves multimodal mobility and safety."
The proposal also works with the Connect Downtown Action Plan, which is a collaborative plan meant to improve mobility and address traffic congestion in Nashville's downtown core. When completed, a nearly 2-mile section of the Midtown corridor would be repurposed to improve traffic and accommodate everyone who uses the road.
Additionally, NDOT has requested public feedback for the Athena Bikeways Project. That project is focused on the planning, designing and construction of safety and mobility improvements like bikeways. The Athena Bikeways Project would add roughly three miles of bikeways and Complete Street improvements. The project includes the following streets:
- 25th Avenue North from Elliston Place to Charlotte Avenue
- Patterson Street from 25th Avenue North to Bar-B-Que Alley
- 29th Avenue North from West End Avenue to 31st Avenue North
- Acklen Park Drive from Murphy Road to Long Blvd
- Long Blvd from Acklen Park Drive to 31st Avenue North
- Burch Avenue from 31st Avenue North to 29th Avenue North
The Athena Bikeways Project would also advance corridors identified in Nashville's 2022 WalknBike strategic plan for sidewalks and bikeways.
“The Church and Athena projects will improve safety for everyone traveling, including people biking, walking, using transit, and driving,” NDOT walking and biking manager Anna Dearman said in a press release. “With these initiatives, NDOT seeks to provide additional multimodal mobility options, increase safety, and maintain traffic operations for people living, working, and traveling to-and-through Midtown."
NDOT plans to implement community feedback to refine certain features, including bikeway designs and locations for pedestrian crossings. To complete the Church Street Complete Street Project survey, click here. To complete the Athena Bikeways Project survey, click here.