Wednesday Pedal Press #4
Weekly insights, updates, and musings on cycling, infrastructure projects, Vision Zero, and more in Nashville and Middle Tennessee.
Hey Middle TN Cyclists!
I don’t have a whole ton of things to bring to you this week (and probably a bit less next week). I hope everyone has a fantastic Fourth of July.
Stones River Greenways Updates
I reached out to Parks again to try and find out more information on the status of the closed Stewards Ferry Connector. From Cindy Harrison:
Regarding the Stewarts Ferry Connector, we have had to wait for funding to be in place and are now going through the procurement process for the contractor who will do the work. I don’t have a timeline yet.
I also got a bit more information about the Stones River Greenway Boardwalk from Cindy:
The Stones River Greenway boardwalk was damaged during recent flooding. The structure must be inspected by an engineer and that engineer will specify the needed repairs and an estimate of cost. Assuming we will have the funding to cover the repairs, we’ll go through a procurement process for the contractor who will make those repairs. It is too early for us to have a definitive reopening date.
Sadly, it seems like it will be closed for quite some time. But for everyone’s safety, that is entirely understandable. It is important to realize that these are lengthy processes due to the criticality of managing them prudently. Thankfully, we still have the detour!
Choose How You Move
Last Tuesday, June 25th, I attended a Choose How You Move community forum for District 7 with Emily Benedict and Michael Briggs, the Director of Transportation Planning in the Mayor’s Office. At some point, I will give my own, lengthy opinion of this plan, but two pieces of information from this meeting stood out to me:
- Nashville currently receives no federal funding for transportation infrastructure, because we don’t have our own dedicated transit fund. In passing Choose How You Move, we unlock over a billion dollars in Federal funding that is currently being left on the table.
- Everyone knows Nashville has done study after study after study on transit and infrastructure ideas. The projects in Choose How You Move leverage the existing work from numerous studies and incorporate the best elements from them. This means that we won’t need to start from scratch and conduct comprehensive new research.
A few community members used last night’s Metro Council Meeting to vocalize their support for the referendum. I have timestamped the segment for you to watch that here:
One of the biggest questions I have seen throughout community feedback is the distinction between All-Access Corridors and Complete Streets. Thankfully, NDOT is hosting a virtual webinar with Smart Growth America about Complete Streets on Monday, July 8th from 1-2 pm. I highly encourage all who can to view this webinar, and pass along the information that can be learned from it. Some more information:
This is the first of four sessions we will be hosting over the coming months. The first session will provide basic information about the Complete Streets approach and explore the numerous benefits that come with adopting Complete Streets. Smart Growth America will walk through case examples of what Complete Streets look like in practice, and lead a discussion with participants.
The session will be led by Dustin Robertson, PhD–Dustin Robertson is a Thriving Communities Program Manager at Smart Growth America. He focuses on Complete Streets and the intersections of mobility, health, and equity. His work informs best practices and research, building capacity at state and local levels across the country.
TN State Crit Championships
I had a spectacular time hanging out with the Safety Herd Racing Team this past weekend. All of the racing was excellent, and everyone on Herd did phenomenal. A HUGE congrats to Max Oden, who finished 3rd in the Cat 3/4 race.
There are even more races this evening if you want to check out the action! Music City Crits also just announced that the LAST crit race of the summer is being moved up to Tuesday, July 16th due to a scheduling conflict with parking for Geodis Park.
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.