Mayor Barry orders 'action agenda' for quick transportation fixes

The Tennessean

Safer sidewalks and intersections. Protected bike lanes. Faster bus service on major streets.

Fresh off announcing major plans for a new light rail system last month, Mayor Megan Barry is now highlighting much quicker fixes for Nashville's traffic congestion, unveiling an "action agenda" Wednesday for transportation improvements over the next three years.

Mayor Megan Barry speaks during a news conference in March.

Barry, discussing her vision at a transportation forum hosted by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, said she's moved forward with the creation of a new Division of Transportation within Metro Public Works to help implement a series of new projects.

Upcoming actions are outlined in a new 85-page report dubbed "Moving the Music City" that prioritizes a wide-range of transportation and connectivity efforts, from sidewalk and streetscape improvements to more efficient buses.

Some items are already outlined in existing plans and earmarked in her recently proposed 2017-18 budget. Other initiatives involve directives from the mayor to Metro departments and agencies.

"Growth does not have to equal gridlock, and we cannot let it equal gridlock, and that's why this is so important, " Barry said. "We have to be a 21st century transit-oriented city, and we can't wait any longer.

"It's great to have a conversation," she said. "We have a lot of conversations in Nashville. But we actually have to get this done, and this is about getting this done."

The report comes amid mounting pressure to show progress on the transportation front, one of the main pillars discussed by Barry during the mayoral campaign of 2015.

Items on the mayor's long to-do list include:

Launching a "Vision Zero" traffic-safety program that seeks to eliminate traffic deaths and make Nashville streets and intersections safer for pedestrians. The mayor's office says this includes "rapid-implementation" projects aimed in particular at helping accessibility for schoolchildren and seniors. Barry said projects are underway on Lower Broadway and Nolensville Pike aimed at pedestrian safety.
Taking steps to improve Nashville's road network with better timed traffic signals and real-time information for commuters. This includes a project to improve traffic signalization at 41 intersections on Murfreesboro Pike.
Doubling Metro's spending on bikeways to make it safer and an easier option for Nashvillians. This includes more protected bike lanes— which involves a buffer between bicycle and vehicular lanes — beginning on Magnolia Boulevard near Belmont University. (Barry's budget increases funding for bike-ways from $1 million to $2 million.)
Increasing the frequency of buses on high-trafficked corridors as well as eliminating the need for passengers to pay fares on bus transfers. Barry's budget also includes funds to extend the free Music City Circuit downtown service to the Nashville Farmer's' Market and Tennessee State University down Jefferson Street in North Nashville.
Making it easier to walk to work, schools and transit in Nashville with new sidewalks, intersection improvements including curb extensions and new crosswalks, enhanced public-safety features and better bus shelters. (The mayor's budget has $30 million set aside for new sidewalks, and $3 million for improving pedestrian access to schools.)

During her State of Metro address last month, Barry said she's committed to moving forward to build light rail on East Nashville's Gallatin Pike — the first corridor as part of a larger light rail system.

She also asked Nashville voters to approve a referendum on funding transit next year, a key benchmark for a light rail system to move forward. Barry has not said which of the elections in 2018 she wants the referendum to go on the ballot.

While those undertaking are focused on the long-term, Barry said the three-year action plan is designed to "get projects out the door and on the ground, and avoid delays."

And yet Barry's latest report marks the third transportation-related study Metro has issued in less than a year. The transit plan known as nMotion, adopted last fall, outlines a $6 billion, 25-year regional transit system. In January, Metro unveiled a plan for sidewalks and bikeways called WalknBike.

"I'm looking for the stuff that's not in a document. I'm looking for stuff that's on the ground," said Metro Councilman Freddie O'connell, a longtime transit advocate who represents parts of downtown. "As long as this leads to concrete action, I'm hopeful that it's helpful in this regard."

O'Connell expressed disappointment that the mayor's new budget does not fund bikeways at the $8 million level suggested in the WalknBike study. He also said he had hoped the budget would cover more recommendations from nMotion.

"There are those things that I think we could actually do from the general fund and the capital-spending plan that I haven't seen yet," he said.

As for the new Division of Transportation, Barry first mentioned the idea in August when she transferred Mark Sturtevant, who had been leading the mayor's Office of Infrastructure, to head the public works department.

Barry said the new division — designed to streamline efforts around transit and transportation — will not include additional staffing, but rather reorganizing existing personnel.

"This is about consolidating resources and just making things more efficient and better," Barry said.

Councilman Jeremy Elrod, chairman of the council's Public Works Committee, wasn't aware of the decision to move ahead with the new office prior to Wednesday's announcement. From his understanding, he said the new structure would enable a "better concentration" on mobility within the public works department.

"Transportation and getting around Nashville is more than just paving streets and building sidewalks," Elrod said. "It's a lot more interconnected-ness between cars, buses, transit, bikes and walking."

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