Nashville to receive $13M federal grant to transform Nolensville Pike, improve safety
Big changes are coming to Nashville's Nolensville Pike thanks in part to $13 million in federal grant funding.
The money will fund multiple pedestrian, bicyclist and vehicle safety improvements along a 2.5-mile stretch of the busy, car-centric corridor between McCall Street and Haywood Lane.
Nashville's Nolensville Pike project is among the recipients of $817 million in Safe Streets and Roads for All grants announced by the U.S. Department of Transportation on Wednesday. Nashville will contribute $3.2 million in already-approved local funding to the project, bringing the total investment on Nolensville Pike to $16.3 million.
"This federal grant from USDOT is going to transform traffic safety on one of the city's most diverse, vibrant corridors," Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell said in a news release Wednesday.
The "We Are Nolensville Pike" transportation safety project will include, at minimum:
Building sidewalk connections where there are gaps or damaged stretches of sidewalk
Improving visibility by adding street lighting and pedestrian-scale lighting
Adding high-visibility crossings and pedestrian hybrid beacons to intersection crossings
Adjusting signal timing to add leading pedestrian intervals, which allow pedestrians to enter crosswalks a few seconds before cars, increasing visibility and allowing extra crossing time
Building intersection bulb outs — also known as curb extensions — to increase pedestrian visibility and reduce pedestrian crossing distance, and encourage vehicle drivers to complete slower turns
Adding mid-block pedestrian crossings
Enhancing bus stop designs to support safe access to public transit
A few years ago, a conversation about parking at the zoo became a much bigger, more important conversation about making streets safer.
We’re so excited for Nashville to have this support from @SecretaryPete and @USDOT. https://t.co/zYU0Y84JJo— Freddie O’Connell (@freddieoconnell) December 13, 2023
The Nolensville Pike corridor sees more than 26,000 cars pass through on an average day, according to a Nashville Department of Transportation study of the roadway initiated during former Mayor John Cooper's tenure.
As a Metro Council member, O'Connell, along with Council member Courtney Johnston, pushed for $6.2 million in funding toward improving safety on Nolensville Pike as part of a 2021 Capital Spending Plan. The plan, authored under Cooper's administration, earmarked $15 million for the construction of additional parking at the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere. O'Connell said at the time that the zoo needed to be seen in the context of its surroundings.
Nolensville Pike is among Nashville's most dangerous high-injury corridors, and the project is part of Metro's Vision Zero program, which aims to reduce fatalities and serious injuries on Nashville roadways to zero.
"Making our roads safer for all modes is our number-one priority," NDOT Director Diana Alarcon said in Wednesday's news release. "This project is essential to helping us meet our Vision Zero goal."
Metro Council approved local funding for the project on Aug. 1, 2023.
NDOT worked with community partners to develop the "We Are Nolensville" project, and will coordinate with the Tennessee Department of Transportation, WeGo Public Transit and others in implementation.
Grant recipients across Tennessee
Of the grants announced Wednesday, Nashville received one of 48 supporting transportation improvements. About 76% of Nashville's $13 million in federal funding is expected to go to underserved communities, according to the USDOT's awards list.
Knoxville also received an $8 million implementation grant to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety at three intersections on the East Magnolia Avenue corridor.
Of 337 grants awarded nationwide for action plan and demonstration activities, 13 went to Tennessee cities or entities, totaling $2.5 million in federal funds.
Recipients include:
City of Athens: $84,000
City of Dickson: $240,000
City of Franklin: $192,000
City of Jackson: $240,000
City of Lebanon: $240,000
City of Milan: $60,000
City of Mt. Juliet: $328,000
City of Murfreesboro: $288,000
Franklin County: $140,000
Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization: $24,000
Morgan County Highway Department: $140,000
Scott County Road Department: $140,000
Williamson County: $400,000
The U.S. Department of Transportation intends to move "expeditiously" to distribute funding, Transportation Policy Analyst Paul Teicher said during a Wednesday news conference.
Grant recipients in the fiscal year 2022 round were announced in February, and about 85% have grant agreements in place to date. Teicher said the hope is to bring that number to more than 90% by the end of the year.
Wednesday's announcement marks the third round of grants this year as part of President Joe Biden's Bipartisan infrastructure law, totaling $1.7 billion in funding to more than 1,000 local communities so far.
Under the law, the Safe Streets and Roads for All program is slated to appropriate $5 billion from 2022 through 2026.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: $13M in federal funds to help transform Nashville's Nolensville Pike
