Metro Nashville officials put shovels in the ground Wednesday, July 8, kicking off visible construction on Chestnut Street and launching the city’s first Complete Streets project funded through the voter-approved Choose How You Move program. The work will reconfigure the corridor with protected bike lanes, wider sidewalks, upgraded crossings and transit stop improvements to make it safer and easier to walk, bike, roll, ride the bus or drive. City leaders framed the ceremony as the first tangible delivery of a sales tax funded promise voters approved in 2024.
Metro Nashville marked the moment with a reel on its official Facebook page, calling Chestnut the first Complete Streets project funded through Choose How You Move. The post described the work as “a voter-approved promise becoming reality” and showed local officials lining up for the ceremonial shovel turn. See the announcement on Metro Nashville.
What the Chestnut project will change
The Edgehill/Chestnut Complete Streets project will add protected bike lanes on both sides of the street, upgrade sidewalks, improve crosswalks and make transit stops more accessible along Chestnut Street, according to the Nashville Department of Transportation. That page says the corridor runs from Edgehill Avenue at 21st Avenue South along Chestnut to Wharf Avenue at Lafayette and that design concepts were updated in spring 2026 with construction slated to begin in late spring 2026.
Voter-backed funding moving to pavement
The Chestnut groundbreaking is part of the larger Choose How You Move effort, a voter-backed transportation program that cleared the ballot in 2024. Backers argued the local sales-tax surcharge creates dedicated revenue to speed up sidewalks, smart signals, transit service and safety upgrades across Nashville.
How the program is paying for work
Mayor Freddie O'Connell's office said the city has placed roughly $104 million into an initial round of CHYM capital projects, and that collections from the half-cent surcharge began February 1, 2025 and had reached $68 million by July 1, according to a Mayor's Office news release. The same release lists safety and reconstruction funding for Edgehill/Chestnut among the early investments, detailing how those dollars are being steered into visible neighborhood projects.
Where Chestnut fits in the rollout
City officials say Chestnut is one of several corridors moving from design into construction, with other high-profile projects in the pipeline. Among them is the Nolensville Pike All-Access Corridor, which will add bus-only lanes, smart signals and sidewalks, local reporting shows. WSMV reported on Nolensville's scale and the city’s multi-year approach to larger corridor redesigns, noting that community engagement will shape block-by-block decisions. See local coverage at WSMV.
NDOT says community presentations and design reviews were part of the Chestnut process and that residents should expect temporary lane changes and construction staging as crews get to work. People who want project updates or construction notices can contact the Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure or monitor Metro's project pages for schedules and public meeting dates.
