Those for walkability in Nashville will like this!
Megan Barry plans upgrades at 15 dangerous Nashville intersections
Joey Garrison, jgarrison@tennessean.com
Joey Garrison, jgarrison@tennessean.com
Looking to feed a city that has demanded a focus on neighborhoods, Mayor Megan Barry has rolled out a new program to systematically make street and sidewalk improvements at some of Nashville's most dangerous intersections.
Barry held a press conference Wednesday morning at Neely Bend Road and Cheyenne Boulevard in Madison — one of two intersections that will receive the first round of improvements — to announce an infrastructure program that will start by addressing 15 intersections with more to follow.
Public works officials say the work could cost around $500,000 to $1 million per intersection. It will to include road realignment, extended turn lanes, traffic signal upgrades, new sidewalks and pedestrian curb ramps, bike lanes and crosswalks.
"When our intersections don't function well — either for pedestrians, or buses or bicyclists or cars — we give up something that's really essential to the life of our city," Barry said. "We pass up that opportunity to reclaim our streets as public spaces and to connect our communities, while also connecting our citizens with the places they need to go.
"At every intersection where there has been a crash, we need to figure out what we need to be doing today to prevent it from happening again."
Barry has targeted D.B. Todd Jr. Boulevard and Albion Street in North Nashville near Meharry Medical College and Fisk University as the other intersection that will receive upgrades first. There, plans call for an updated traffic signal technology and timing system, new street paving, turn lanes and countdown pedestrian signals.
Both projects, chosen because of the disproportionately high number of crashes and accidents at the intersections, are expected to take between three to six months to complete. Construction at each could begin next month.
The mayor's office plans to announce an additional 13 intersections that will receive upgrades at a later time. They plan to then follow with a second batch of intersections. The idea is to also target those that have had a high volume of accidents.
In picking Madison and North Nashville to kick off the program, Barry has chosen two neighborhoods whose community leaders have often complained of being deprived of significant city investments.
Neelys Bend Road and Cheyenne Boulevard, near Neelys Bend middle and elementary schools, features only a flashing traffic signal to stop vehicles passing through. Three years ago, a teenage girl was killed as a result of a traffic accident at the site. A cross still sits near the intersection in her memory.
"It hit home to a lot of people," said Councilman Bill Pridemore, the council's Budget and Finance Committee chairman, who represents the Madison neighborhood. "This is a welcome development and a welcome addition to this intersection.
"The additional traffic signal turning lane, the curbs and the shared bike lanes are going to create an additional safety factor for not only our children, but also our visitors and all our residents."
Metro Public Works Director Mark Macy said improvements at intersections will be to "complete streets" standards that seek to address drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
"We want Nashville to be safe and we want our residents and visitors to get around efficiently no matter how they choose to travel," he said.
Intersection improvements mark the latest plan Barry has announced ahead of the release of her first budget and State of Metro address on April 29. Last week, she announced she would be bolstering the city's affordable housing fund with $10 million in additional funds. She's also discussed an initiative to employ 10,000 of the city's youth with help from both the public and private sectors.
Early on her tenure as mayor, Barry has sought to highlight neighborhood and infrastructure issues — both of which were were major themes in the recent mayor's race.
She has pumped $15 million toward new sidewalk and street projects on top of $25 million that was already committed; improved traffic signal-timing optimizations at hundreds of intersections; and added three mayor's office positions dedicated to infrastructure and transportation.
Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236 and on Twitter @joeygarrison.
No comments:
Post a Comment