Big news for Nashville as AmericaFWD has selected the city's Choose How You Move program for a substantial technical assistance award. This initial award from the Project Delivery Accelerator Lab evidently comes at a crucial time, aiming to shift the groundbreaking $3.1 billion initiative from the planning phase into active construction. Nashville is one of just three lucky communities nationally to land this kind of support, a significant boost for local infrastructure aspirations.
The assistance from AmericaFWD isn't trivial, it brings specialized expertise that local leaders can leverage to cut through the red tape of regulatory hurdles, an essential step in ramping up construction activities. "AmericaFWD is helping us turn our Choose How You Move promise into progress," Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell told Nashville.gov. It's a partnership, it seems, that promises to usher along the anticipated improvements in transit accessibility and community connectivity.
Choose How You Move isn't just about getting Nashville residents from point A to B. It's an ambitious overhaul that envisions nearly 600 intersections with smart signals, 54 miles of high-capacity transit, and extensive additions to the city's sidewalk network. Sabrina Sussman, Chief Program Officer of Choose How You Move, detailed the community's goals of safer and more reliable transportation in her statement, acknowledging how AmericaFWD's technical support is critical for negotiating project delivery intricacies.
Christopher Coes, Executive Director of AmericaFWD, underscored the broader implications of such projects on community nourishment and empowerment. Infrastructure is about more than concrete and steel. It is about affordability and shifting power back to the people who rely on these systems every day," Coes emphasized. This viewpoint signals a commitment not just to infrastructure, but to fostering equitable socio-economic environments. Alongside Nashville, the Interstate 5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project in Portland, OR, and the Emerald Trail in Jacksonville, FL, have also been named recipients of AmericaFWD's technical assistance; both projects carry similar themes of community rejuvenation and connection, as mentioned on the Metro Nashville website.
By choosing Nashville's Choose How You Move for this model program, AmericaFWD is taking concrete steps toward pulling the lofty aims of its 2025 State of Play report down to street level, translating high-level insights into tangible outcomes. It seems that, across these selected cities, the opportunity to transition from well-funded plans to tangible construction is suddenly far brighter, and with it, the promise of a more connected urban landscape is set to become a reality.
