City transportation and ITS staff outlined an early work program for coordinated signal and communications upgrades as part of Choose How You Move.

A Metro signal planner described three immediate tasks: define the hardware and software standard for what the staff calls “smart signals,” prioritize intersections and corridors for early deployment and produce detailed budget estimates for the first years of work. On the question of what “smart signal” behavior should prioritize, staff said they want systems that detect and respond to pedestrians, bicyclists, transit vehicle presence and event-driven conditions.

The planner cautioned against equating the term “adaptive” with a narrow focus on vehicle throughput: “In the traffic industry, adaptive is really seen as moving cars. What we're trying to do in Nashville is move people,” the presenter said. Staff said the program will also upgrade nearly 600 signals countywide and connect them to a new traffic-management center.

The ITS team described a fiber expansion plan that will connect many of the upgraded signals; staff said they plan aerial deployments in the near term for speed, with conduit and buried fiber installed later in corridors rebuilt as part of the all-access projects. Staff noted that the fiber expansion accelerates a plan that previously would have taken many years and that fiber work is already underway on Nolensville Pike and Clarksville projects.

Officials said downtown pedestrian improvements tied to existing programs — for example, leading pedestrian intervals at downtown signals — are being coordinated with the smart signal work and that upgrades will be coordinated on a corridor basis to capture the highest early benefits.