BELLE MEADE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A group in Belle Meade has decided to sue the city over a potential roadway project. The city has ambitions to add sidewalks to improve pedestrian safety along Belle Meade Boulevard, but residents don't feel changes are needed.
Hundreds of residents have signed a petition to block a walkway from becoming a reality. Still feeling ignored by the city’s commission, residents said they've needed to crank up the pressure.
“We have filed a lawsuit to try to stop what the city is trying to do,” resident Steve Fridrich said. “We feel like we want to make sure we’re heard.”
Calling themselves the “Friends of Belle Meade Boulevard,” the group told News 2 they're devoted to keeping the boulevard's historic character intact. They continue to reinforce the idea that the boulevard is a roadway, not a walkway.
“We do not want to change what Belle Meade Boulevard is and what it was designed to be,” Fridrich added.
Despite the city’s reassurance that nothing is official, Fridrich and other residents believe the project is further along than is being let on.
“It is obvious that things continue to move forward. There were companies out here — the gas company was out here all last week marking the gas line,” Fridrich detailed. “Over the last 15 years, different people have tried to put sidewalks on Belle Meade Boulevard and overwhelmingly, the residents have come back saying, ‘We do not want sidewalks down the middle of Belle Meade Boulevard.’”
“It’s seen as a significant part of Belle Meade; it’s its spine,” said Gavin Duke, a landscape architect who serves on several boards for Belle Meade. “I think our group is intended to protect and preserve this greenspace, and also the nature of what this sense of place is."
Belle Meade’s commission board will be discussing the boulevard once again Wednesday, where opponents plan to show up in force. In a statement, Belle Meade’s city manager, Jennifer Moody, wrote:
“While we cannot comment directly on the lawsuit that has been filed, we want to clarify that there is no imminent construction occurring, nor any approved projects to build sidewalks on Belle Meade Boulevard."
As part of the master plan for the City of Belle Meade, ‘Belle Meade Together,’ funding was approved for a preliminary plan to study safety and beautification along Belle Meade Boulevard. Due to increased traffic, regular pedestrian use by residents, and the tragic death of a pedestrian, a plan to improve safety is needed.
This preliminary plan is expected to be completed in August, with several rounds of review by both the Commission and the public. At this time, there are no construction plans to be reviewed.”