NDOT proposes speed cushions and tables for Harpeth Bend Drive after engineers record 43 mph prevailing speeds

Amy Birch, a transportation engineer and consultant working on behalf of the Nashville Department of Transportation (NDOT), presented a finalized traffic-calming plan for Harpeth Bend Drive at a neighborhood meeting, proposing a series of speed cushions along the nearly one-mile corridor and two 14-foot speed tables behind Devon Park to address high speeds and motorcycle bypassing.

The program is application-based and uses an online ballot to confirm neighborhood support before construction. NDOT will mail unique postcards with QR codes and a six-week voting period. If at least 66% of eligible respondents — defined by NDOT as residential properties, churches and schools abutting the right-of-way — vote yes, the project will be placed in NDOT’s construction queue, currently estimated at six to ten months.

Why it matters: NDOT measured an 85th-percentile speed of 43 miles per hour on Harpeth Bend Drive where the posted speed limit is 25 mph, and recorded daily volumes of about 1,400 vehicles. Birch told residents, “85% of the traffic that we measured over the course of 24 hours is going 43 miles per hour or below,” using that metric to explain why Harpeth Bend scored highly in the program’s prioritization process.

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