Dean punts Amp decision to next mayor

Mayor Karl Dean says he won't pursue local or state funding for his Amp project during his final year in office, putting the fate of the controversial bus rapid transit project in the hands of a successor who might not be as enthusiastic about the idea.

Dean, entering his final 11 months in office, announced his new course at the final meeting of a citizens advisory committee he appointed in April to offer input on the 7.1-mile, $175 million transit project that would stretch from East Nashville, downtown through Broadway and onto West End Avenue.

The mayor noted that more design work is needed on the project as well as federal and environmental impact studies.

"Because of these necessary next steps, we will not be seeking local or state funding for the project this upcoming year," Dean said. "We've known from the beginning that getting a transit project off the ground is going to take more than a year or two."

Still, Dean said "now is not the time to put on the brakes."

"This is an opportunity," the mayor said. "We've never come so far in making transit a reality for Nashville, and we cannot turn back. We have to continue the conversation around Amp and also focus our attention on regional transit."

Division from start

The Amp has proved divisive ever since Dean rolled out plans for it in 2012. While the mayor has called the Amp critical to addressing Nashville's 1 million expected new residents by 2035, his advisory committee is as split on the project as when it first convened in April. There are still lingering questions, too, including where wait stations would go along a revamped stretch of the route west of Interstate 440 that will no longer include a dedicated center lane.

Meanwhile, the five declared mayoral candidates vying to replace Dean, who is term-limited, have seemed hesitant — even uneasy, at times — publicly discussing the Amp, which has set off one of the most divisive political fights in recent Nashville history.

The closest thing to an endorsement from any of the five has come from attorney Charles Robert Bone, who told a group of business leaders that the city can't lose any more time and that the Amp would offer something in the short term to let Nashvillians see and experience transit.

Former Metro school board chairman David Fox, on other hand, has said he "would not be in the business of cramming things down people's throat."

Unfinished business

Dean's advisory committee wrapped up business Tuesday lacking a study on the impact of the Amp on side streets and an unfinished report that is supposed to explore expected ridership figures.

Dean convened the panel in April after the project had come under fire in the state legislature, which would eventually pass a bill requiring any transit project fitting the Amp's description to get legislative approval before construction could begin. House Speaker Beth Harwell, who lives in Green Hills, helped that effort.

Opponents of the Amp had already organized under "Stop Amp," with the assistance of limousine company owner Rick Williams, attorney Dianne Ferrell Neal and auto mogul Lee Beaman. Neal and Beaman sit on Dean's committee.

"There's been an attempt for us to reach a consensus on details of the Amp plan such as where the bus stops, where the bus turns," Beaman said Tuesday. "But there's been no substantive discussion on whether the Amp plan is the right overall plan for our city."

The Amp, though, has gotten support from city boosters, including the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp., Vanderbilt University, the hospitals along the route and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. All have remained loyal.

The chamber's CEO and president, Ralph Schulz, reiterated his support Tuesday, calling transit critical to continued prosperity in Nashville and to the goal of attracting young people. But others on the committee offered lukewarm praise of the Amp.

"Is the Amp the correct solution to (transit needs)?" Lower Broadway business owner Barrett Hobbs said. "I don't know. I would give it an incomplete at this time."

Funding challenge

Dean received an initial lump of $7.5 million from the Metro Council to jump-start planning on the project, but the political battle to get buy-in for capital funds from the council during his final year in office would have been challenging.

Landing funds from Gov. Bill Haslam and the Republican-controlled Tennessee legislature for the Amp would present a much tougher test.

President Barack Obama included $27 million for the Amp in his last budget proposal, with future installments to follow, but the overall plan would require approval by Congress.

Though the mayor won't pursue immediate funding for the Amp, work will continue on planning and other components. The next step, the mayor said, is to compile all feedback into the overall design plan for the Amp, a process he predicted would be completed in the coming weeks. Meetings for a long-term regional plan are to kick off in early 2015.

No assurances were offered Tuesday, however, that the Amp would be a part of it.

Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236 and on Twitter @joeygarrison.