Metro Nashville is handing Dallas-based Jacobs a hefty to-do list along with a $44.2 million contract, tasking the engineering giant with turning the city’s Choose How You Move vision into actual concrete, crosswalk paint and bus lanes on the ground.
Over the three-year agreement, Jacobs will guide engineering and design work for sidewalks, traffic signals and major transit corridors as the voter-backed program shifts from planning to visible construction. City officials say the contract is supposed to speed up adaptive traffic signals, new pedestrian connections and dedicated transit lanes across Davidson County.
The Metro Council signed off on an ordinance authorizing a contract with Jacobs Engineering Group not to exceed $44.2 million, with a three-year base term and options for extension, according to the Nashville Post. The agreement is available for multiple Metro departments and is one of roughly 30 contracts NDOT is using to carry out the Choose How You Move program.
What Jacobs Will Do
In a company press release carried by Business Wire, Jacobs spells out a broad menu of services: multimodal planning, environmental compliance, traffic engineering and construction support, among others. The scope includes building 86 miles of new sidewalks and modernizing nearly 600 traffic signals across the county, with Jacobs describing the work as program-management support that should let Metro move faster on dozens of projects citywide.
“Choose How You Move is a bold investment in Nashville's future,” Tom Meinhart, an executive vice president at Jacobs, said in the release. The firm also said it will use real-time mobility analytics, including StreetLight Data, to fine-tune adaptive signals and prioritize corridors with the goal of cutting congestion and improving safety, according to the statement.
How This Fits Into Choose How You Move
Choose How You Move is the voter-approved initiative funded by a half-cent sales surcharge. Metro’s CHYM page says the first $104 million is moving from planning into construction and lists 86 miles of sidewalks and roughly 592 intersections targeted for smart-signal upgrades. The program bundles sidewalks, signal work, 24/7 transit and safety projects into a local funding stream that Metro uses to leverage additional federal dollars, according to Nashville.gov.
Procurement attachments show Jacobs emerged as the highest-ranked proposer in a qualifications-based architecture and engineering selection and will lead a team of 19 subconsultants. Fourteen of those firms are Metro-certified small business enterprises, and the work will be delivered under an IDIQ-style contract that includes negotiated pricing and SBE/MBE/WBE participation goals. The contract and supporting exhibits are posted on Metro Legistar.
Local outlets picked up the news as Metro began issuing work orders under the program. The Nashville Post first reported the council approval and highlighted Jacobs’ existing work on NDOT’s Complete Streets projects along Dickerson Pike and Lebanon Pike. Residents along priority corridors should brace for design notices and community meetings as individual task orders move from design to construction.
Design work, public engagement and corridor-level studies are expected to roll out next as Metro assigns more task orders to Jacobs. The city has already held procurement previews and public briefings on implementation strategy, timelines and outreach. If Jacobs delivers as planned, the contract becomes a key delivery vehicle for turning CHYM dollars into new sidewalks, smarter signals and more reliable bus service across Nashville, according to Nashville.gov.
