NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Making streets safer is a big focus right now for Metro Nashville. Nashville Department of Transportation (NDOT) just unveiled some of the worst roads when it comes to speeding—26 total city-wide. NDOT calls it its Traffic Calming Program.
“That’s the point of this program, to slow people down. Really get people driving at safe speed in these neighborhood streets,” said Brad Freeze, NDOT chief engineer.
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Freeze and his team studied traffic on these 26 streets to see which ones were the worst, and the top two are Packard Drive on the south side, and Stratford Avenue on the east side—both ranked high with speeding and pedestrian injuries.
“We go out there and do speed studies. We look at the crashes on those streets, we look at the volumes on those streets, and that’s how we make our selections.”
But all of this work actually began with the public through the Traffic Calming Program. Rewind to December. Folks filled out applications, got their neighbors on board, and let NDOT know which streets they wanted fixed. NDOT then took those applications, studied the roads, and decided which ones need the most work.
“It is extremely helpful to have that direct feedback from the public,” said Freeze. “We try and do a lot of follow-up making sure we get a good consensus from the neighborhood.”
Now that the unsafe roads have been picked, residents and NDOT engineers will collaborate over the next few months on what changes to make. And the tools in their engineering arsenal are quite plentiful: They can install speed cushions; traffic circles; what are called bulb-outs, which extends the sidewalk to slow down car; and put up speed radar – whatever it takes to slow down drivers.
“Of course, we do see studies across the county, but we don’t always know where these issues and challenges are, so it’s very important that the neighbors speak up, that the residents speak up and inform us of problems that are occurring so we can do something about it.”
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Below are the 26 streets set to see changes this year.
Packard Drive, Stratford Avenue, Elysian Fields Road, Broadwell Drive, Nawakwa Trail, Cabot Drive, Jonquil Drive, Percy Warner Boulevard, Wallace Road, South Douglas Avenue, Vaughn’s Gap Road, Annex Avenue, Brewer Drive, Caldwell Lane, Hickory Park Drive, Kings Lane, Cross Creek Road, Page Road, San Marcos Drive, Fairway Drive, Redmond Lane, James Avenue, Woodlawn Drive, Hamilton Avenue, Sharondale Drive, Ransom Place
You can also see a map of the streets selected here.
If yours did not make that list, there is still time. On March 6, NDOT will open another round of applications. They have $4 million to spend this year on the Traffic Calming Program. You can learn more about the application process here.