Today, the streets of Downtown Nashville are set for a major revamp as the Connect Downtown Project Team unveils its final strategy to upgrade the city's transport, aiming to make it safer, more integrated, and more resilient for everyone.
After two years of gathering public input and strategizing, the expert panel—which includes the Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure (NDOT), WeGo Public Transit, the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT), and the Nashville Downtown Partnership—has outlined a 10-year action plan that focuses on making essential improvements to manage congestion, improve safety, and enhance overall connectivity down Nashvillian thoroughfares, this comprehensive approach incorporates a slew of near-term and long-term objectives to realize five overarching "big moves" from streamlining traffic through smarter signal systems, fostering safer streets, to bolstering transit services for smoother travel.
Mayor Freddie O’Connell expressed enthusiasm about the program, “As we aim to improve mobility everywhere in Nashville, downtown plays a critical role and this effort will ensure more efficient movement for everyone, mirroring the goals outlined in our Choose How You Move program,” O’Connell praised the plans for smart traffic lights, separate mobility lanes for bikers and scooter users, and dedicated transit lanes for buses, as per a statement obtained by the official Nashville government website.
District 19 Metro Council Member Jacob Kupin also chimed in with his endorsement, highlighting the public's role in shaping these recommendations “The delivery of the Connect Downtown plan marks the end of a two-year journey of public engagement and forward-thinking planning to enhance our City’s connectivity,” Kupin acknowledged the input from various stakeholders and expressed eagerness for both the imminent and extended enhancements anticipated over the looming decade, as outlined in the same Nashville government release.
With a timeline stretching across the next ten years, the plan is partitioned into three phases and will be ignited with some quick wins to immediately benefit downtown residents and visitors, elucidating how Nashville intends to manage its urban ebb and flow—upgrading traffic signals, prioritizing public transit, and optimizing curb space to support the local economy and harmonize with the city's vibrant pulse.
