By Cole Villena

 

 

Walk Bike Nashville has called on city leadership to implement six short-term solutions that will lay a foundation for the city’s mobility future. On Tuesday, the Nashville nonprofit submitted its first “State of Our Streets” report to incoming Chief Programs Officer for Choose How You Move Sabrina Sussman.

The context document and action plan, which was also delivered to Mayor Freddie O’Connell, Metro Council and Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure director Diana Alarcon, comes two days after the start of Sussman's tenure. It offers case studies on recent mobility projects and six recommendations Walk Bike believes Nashville can achieve by the midpoint of Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s term this autumn:

  • Expand Nashville’s bikeway network by piloting Connect Downtown's mobility lanes.
  • Accelerate the pace for building safe walking paths by developing sidewalk alternatives.
  • Reduce fatalities and serious injuries on dangerous roads by creating a line item for quick-build construction projects in the Vision Zero budget.
  • Enhance shared micro-mobility options by signing a contract with a bikeshare provider that significantly increases the number of stations and bikes.
  • Execute a mobility vision across Metro departments by hiring a dedicated transportation policy lead in the mayor's office.
  • Enforce the values and priorities already established by city leaders by endorsing a four-lane cross section for East Bank Boulevard, our city's next great street.

“This document is meant to generate optimism,” says Walk Bike Nashville executive director Meredith Montgomery. “These are growth opportunities, not complaints, and seeing them through will lay a foundation Metro leaders can build on as they pursue Choose How You Move’s most ambitious goals.”

A full copy of the report is available at walkbikenashville.org/streetsreport.

About Walk Bike Nashville

Since 1998, Walk Bike Nashville has worked to make our city more walkable, bikeable and livable through advocacy, education and engagement. We want all people to have the freedom, dignity and choice to move through a comprehensive and safe network of sidewalks, bikeways and transit routes. Our organization advocates for improved infrastructure and better transportation policy, while working to support a culture of walking and bicycling through events and educational programs.