Wednesday Pedal Press #3
Weekly insights, updates, and musings on cycling, infrastructure projects, Vision Zero, and more in Nashville and Middle Tennessee.
Nashville truly has some wonderful parks, and the Greenways network continues to grow throughout Davidson County. But there is still quite a long way to go before these truly burgeon into an interconnected network of pathways for people to move around the city.
Recently, Metro Parks & Recreation has caught my attention for a handful of reasons, so I wanted to take this week to share some of what I’ve been exploring. Despite being in our parks and greenways weekly, I’ve not paid great attention to their meetings, agendas, and general processes. Since cyclists, including myself, spend most of my time on greenways, that is what I will focus on here. And unsurprisingly, just like roadways, creating new greenways is a time and resource-intensive development process that most of us rarely consider at length.
My dive into this started with some general outreach to the departments and different “Friends” non-profits surrounding the parks, galvanized by the accident and subsequent repairs on the Shelby Bottoms Greenway which I covered last week. During my digging, I was disappointed to find out that I could not find meeting minutes for the bi-monthly Greenways and Open Spaces Commission meeting. As a member of VZAC, our meeting minutes are shared publicly, and I think that transparency is critical for any agency serving the public.
After reaching out, it was confirmed to me that minutes are not currently shared, but that is being worked on. And I found Metro’s playlist for these meetings, shown here:
In the most recent meeting, on June 12, Cindy Harrison, Assistant Director of Metro Nashville Parks & Recreation, did a phenomenal job walking through many of the challenges and problems that the Parks Department works through to open new public spaces. There are obvious challenges with landing acquisition and rights, easements, Metro Water Services, and Specific Plans. I highly encourage anyone interested in understanding the scope of the Parks Department’s process to give it a watch (hint: watch on 1.25x or 1.5x speed). I will be watching all upcoming meetings.
In the presentation, we are given an overview of ongoing projects that are in design or final permitting at the beginning of the last meeting. Cindy also provides a more robust and detailed update about the Whites Creek Greenway Hartman Park Connector. I will allow those interested to watch the video for details, but the timeline shown below will hopefully depict the thorough challenges that the Parks Department works through to open a new greenway.
Just like NDOT, bringing new projects to fruition is a complex, arduous process for our Metro Parks & Recreation. And maintaining them is a whole different story…
Stones River Greenway Boardwalk Closed
I was first alerted to this closure via the r/NashvilleCyclists subreddit late morning on Friday the 21st. Surprisingly, user Better_Cod_1185 shared this with us before the parks department shared it on their social media later in the day. At first, I was a little disappointed that Reddit had crowd-sourced this information faster than the Parks department.
However, Parks did a wonderful job last September and October posting about the closure of the Cumberland River Greenway on their social media, website, and with signage through the Greenways network. Thus, I am inclined to think that this closure is the result of an urgent maintenance issue. So, I put on my on my investigation cap. On Saturday I took a ride out to this section of the Greenway and could not see any glaring issue from either side of the boardwalk. I also rode along the entire length of the nearby Stewarts Ferry Connector, which is currently “closed” as well and has been for the past eight months. There are very large sinkholes near the terminus of this Connector, but the path is still rideable at this time. Sadly, I did not see any evidence of repairs yet on this stretch.
But my curiosity felt the need to investigate the boardwalk further. So on Monday evening, I borrowed a friend’s kayak, pushed off at the Kohl’s Greenway Trailhead, and checked out the boardwalk from the vantage point of the river. And it could quite possibly be great news or bad news that I was unable to visibly identify any major issues.
I could not see any decaying concrete pylons, broken boardwalk joists, handrails, or other major concerns. That said, I am not a trained safety inspector so please use common sense, and make sure to take the detour. Serious structural issues may exist, even if I could not see them. Let Parks do their thing and we’ll enjoy it when it’s back open. Here’s a photo of me on the river to prove my efforts.
Bordeaux & Beyond
This past weekend I had a wonderful time riding with a new friend, Ben Hubert, in the Bordeaux area of North Nashville. We set off from Hartman Park and toured the property of the forthcoming Bordeaux Agrihood by BD Ventures, local easements that would be ideal for connecting greenways, and the aforementioned Whites Creek Greenway Hartman Park Connector land. Ben created an extraordinary storymap that shares a fantastic vision for this part of Nashville, tying together existing parks, planned projects from the 2017 Plan to Play Master Plan, and glaring opportunities. It is worth your attention.
Ben is also doing tremendous work with NDOT’s traffic calming program throughout this part of the county. I’d like to highlight two possible things that came up during our ride together. We’ll start big first.
NERR Railway Line
Nashville’s Greenway system mostly runs alongside its many waterways throughout the county. However, utilizing railways is also a smart and promising option for expansion. Many people are already familiar with the Rail to Trails Conservancy which has done tremendous work throughout different parts of the country.
The Nashville & Eastern Line (NERR) bisects Bordeaux, which stretches between Ashland City and Monterey, past Cookeville. Notably, this is the line used by the WeGo Star, the commuter rail service between Nashville and Lebanon. I know the heavy lift that would be required to get multiple counties, agencies, and companies to work collaboratively on an adjacent Greenway, but for the sake of exploration, let’s take a look at what it could bring to Middle Tennessee.
Any cyclist who’s ridden on the bike lanes along Ashland City Highway knows that they are incredibly dangerous and dirty. A part of my Ride the Districts project, the first video clip from “Bike Lanes You DON’T Wanna Ride On” is Ashland City Highway. But connecting from Nashville to Ashland City’s Cumberland River Bicentennial Trail would drastically increase cycle tourism along this stretch, including offering safe access to Bells Bend. The trail could begin in Nashville at Ted Rhodes Golf Course, which has a trailhead to the Cumberland River Greenway.
Junctions could be made with the Stones River Greenway on the other side of Nashville. Here, the NERR’s northern spur to Old Hickory could provide cycling infrastructure to a severely underserved community. This would offer connections to The Hermitage and numerous other parks and neighborhoods.
Following the main eastward route, there are several connecting points at existing WeGo stops, each with pre-installed facilities, including parking. These stops would include Hermitage, Mt Juliet, Martha, Hamilton Springs, and Lebanon. Beyond the WeGo service corridor, the trail could take cyclists to historic Watertown, Cookeville, and Monterey.
All in all, a Greenway along the NERR would drastically change the overall fabric of cycling in Middle Tennessee, connecting numerous communities, and bringing a new level of cycling-tourism to our region. The economic impacts of this project could be tremendous, from creating jobs along the corridor for its construction to increased economic activity after its completion. The 150-mile project would be undoubtedly ambitious, but it is certainly doable with the correct stakeholder involvement. Surprisingly, the portion of the route through Davidson County does appear as a part of the Greenways Long Term Vision, shared below. This may be a dream, but I believe it’s one worth having and pushing for.
“This is a helluva dump”
Let’s circle back now to Bordeaux and something not so pie-in-the-sky. On our ride, Ben and I visited the former Bordeaux Landfill. Ben’s story shares a 2013 WPLN article stating:
The tract of 300 acres – more than 200 football fields – was the site of the Bordeaux landfill, which was long reviled by its neighbors, with some saying the mostly black community nearby felt like the city’s dumping ground. The landfill closed in 1996, and in 2004 Metro began an effort to grow native grass and plants on the site, while weeding out invasive species.
The land shares the same parcel as the existing Bordeaux Gardens Park and what was previously Cura Health Nashville. It has become a remarkable Riparian zone. Metro owns this land, and could quickly (relatively, compared to lengthier acquisition processes) convert it into a public open space utilizing the existing gravel roads that have been present for the required maintenance period after a landfill closes.
The required post-closure care period is 30 years from site closure, but this can be shortened or extended by the director of an approved state program. That can help ensure protection of human health and the environment.
Considering that the Ravenwood Park system will not be building a cyclo-cross course, this area would be an ideal location to bring one to the Nashville Parks system pending proper ecological considerations. And I would also love to see this park maintain its gravel roads, rather than opting for a paved greenway. For a bigger grasp of this land’s elegance, take a moment to watch this video from Google Earth and POV from our ride around its gravel roads:
This space was absolutely gorgeous and serene, reminding me of both Bells Bend and the area surrounding Cornelia Fort Airpark. It also features wonderful views of the Nashville skyline and The Nations. While Metro Nashville’s Plan to Play depicts a Greenway through the former Landfill (Figure 7-8), I urge the Greenways and Open Spaces Commission to pay a much more concerted effort to a bigger impact in the Bordeaux community with the expansion of Bordeaux Gardens into this space. I hope they begin this effort soon and that everyone vocalizes their support.
Gallatin Pike & Greenfield Ave
NDOT was busy dropping some new bike lane protection at the intersection of Gallatin Pike & Greenfield Avenue over this last weekend. After learning about it on Instagram, I decided to head out and check out their latest work. I found a few surprises, too. The project covers approximately 400ft on both sides of Greenfield Avenue where there are entrances to both Walgreens and Kroger.
Events & Racing
Jones Mill Hot Lap fired off this weekend with 55 racers getting in on the action. It looked like a spectacular time, and we always love to see new races get underway throughout Middle Tennessee. We will keep following ANVL Events, LLC for all the goodness that they will bring us next but we highly recommend anyone with the mountain bike itch give them a follow on Instagram and Facebook to show your support.
More racing happens this weekend when Music City Crits host the TN State Championships this Sunday at the Fairgrounds Speedway. I plan to be out there spectating all day and catch the fastest cats on two wheels ride in circles really, really fast. If you’ve never seen a Crit race, they are loads of fun and we encourage you to come check out any of the action listed below.
Be visible. Be predictable. Do good. Cheers!
Do you have something you think I should feature or investigate? Please let me know at [email protected], or by completing the Contact Us form on our Mission page.