A rendering from the Imagine East Bank vision plan

UPDATE: On Thursday, April 25, we joined over 150 community members to learn more about East Bank Boulevard. We were encouraged to see four-lane alternatives for this important street presented at the meeting.

That’s why we were so disappointed that a post-meeting survey asking community members for their thoughts doesn’t include options for a four-lane street at all.

On pages 4 and 5 of the survey, we’re asked: “Do you support the proposed alternative?” Our answer is “no.”

What do we dislike about the proposals? They’d bring six-lane highways through Nashville’s next neighborhood. That’s dangerous for pedestrians, cyclists, transit users, and drivers alike, and it’d be a missed opportunity to build a beautiful place for Nashvillians.

East Bank Boulevard deserves to be so much better. Click here to complete the survey, and say no to six-lane highways!

At Walk Bike Nashville, it’s in our nature to imagine. That’s why the Imagine East Bank vision plan excited us. It invited us to imagine a great street for Nashville — one where people gather along tree-lined streets, explore new favorite shops and restaurants, and linger with friends and strangers alike.

Project designers have prioritized bus lanes and wide sidewalks on the boulevard, which is a great start. Unfortunately, the Imagine East Bank vision plan proposes a dangerous six-lane concept that is too wide to cross comfortably, invites car traffic, and excludes dedicated bike facilities. Three years after we pushed Metro to include complete streets alternatives in the Imagine East Bank vision plan, we’re still fighting for this to be a great street — and we need your help.

The East Bank team is hosting a public meeting requesting feedback on the boulevard. The meeting is Thursday, April 24 at Cross Point Church (299 Cowan St.) from 4-7 p.m. with drop-in hours. There’s no need to stay the whole time!

There are many great reasons to make our vision a reality. Here are some talking points we’ve put together to make the case:

East Bank is precedent-setting

With East Bank Boulevard, Nashville isn’t adapting a street built for cars into one that can “also” accommodate people walking and biking. The street is being built from scratch, meaning it can look the way Nashvillians want it to on day one.

That’s symbolically important. As Nashville grows, and the ambitious $3.1 billion transit plan starts to take shape, East Bank Boulevard should serve as a shining example of what it looks like when we build streets the right way. Think of it this way: If we can’t be ambitious here, where will we find the courage to advocate for complete streets in existing neighborhoods?

More car lanes = more car traffic

The phrase “If you build it, they will come” doesn’t just apply to stadiums. It also helps describe traffic flows along wide roads. Study after study has shown that building wider highways doesn’t help traffic flow more smoothly, it just attracts more car traffic to fill up wider highways.

These articles reference studies from organizations like the National Bureau of Economic Research, the University of California, Berkeley, and other reputable research institutions:

Wired: What's Up With That: Building Bigger Roads Actually Makes Traffic Worse

Strong Towns: Induced Demand and the Highway Interchange

Transportation for America: Things DOTs say: “Expanding the road will definitely reduce congestion”

Planetizen: What is Induced Demand?

The evidence is clear: Adding more lanes doesn’t help people get places faster. It just gives drivers more places to sit in traffic. Is that the best we can do?

Align with existing plans

In Connect Downtown, East Bank Boulevard is one of the transit priority corridors connecting three planned transit centers. If a six-lane design is chosen, East Bank Boulevard would be wider than the other transit corridors in the plan.

Having four car lanes without dedicated bike facilities contradicts Metro Nashville’s modal hierarchy, as adopted in the Major and Collector Street Plan and Green and Complete Streets Policy. The hierarchy prioritizes pedestrians, bicycling, and transit above personal cars. It is equitable and efficient to prioritize people walking, biking, and riding the bus in our transportation system. Prioritizing cars over safety also contradicts the city’s Vision Zero commitment. 

Speed kills

The data is clear.If a six lane road is built, people will be killed and seriously injured. Speed is the number one contributing factor to fatal crashes in Nashville, and the majority of the High Injury Network are wide arterial streets. Although the speed limit on the boulevard will be 25 mph, actual speeds will likely be higher. At a time that Nashville is retrofitting miles of roads to improve safety, we have to get the East Bank right the first time.  

Voters delivered a mandate

Not even six months ago, Nashville voters were asked to choose whether to invest in an ambitious transit plan that would create complete streets along some of the city’s most important corridors. Voters spoke clearly as the plan passed by a two-to-one margin, indicating clear support for safer, less car-dominated streets.

While voters haven’t spoken on the East Bank specifically, their council members have. Ahead of the 2023 Metro Council election, Walk Bike Nashville asked candidates’ preferred concept for East Bank Boulevard. The majority of sitting council members preferred a concept with bike lanes on the boulevard. Only one of the 23 council members that responded preferred the six-lane concept.

Blog Post by Wesley Smith and Cole Villena