NDOT proposes speed cushions, ballot and year-long timeline for Hicks Road traffic calming

Jeff Hammond, a consultant working on behalf of the Nashville Department of Transportation, presented a draft traffic-calming plan for Hicks Road on Oct. 12, outlining data collected, potential engineering tools and next steps that would include a neighborhood ballot and a construction queue.

NDOT’s first recommended treatment for Hicks Road is speed cushions spaced roughly 400–600 feet apart, with an option to use longer, less aggressive cushions in this suburban-to-rural setting. Hammond said the agency would design the cushions to avoid steep slopes and driveways and coordinate with emergency responders.

The presenter said the data collected on the project limits — Old Harding Pike to Bellevue Road — showed a representative speed of 42 mph and about 1,100 vehicles per day along the segment; the road width was measured at about 22 feet. Hammond described the scoring used to select projects and said roughly 70% of the selection weight is traffic volume and measured speed, with the remaining 30% addressing vulnerable…