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NDOT gives status update on Connect Downtown plan and early projects
Summary
NDOT presented the Connect Downtown action plan status, describing 103 projects across a 10-year horizon and identifying 65 phase 1–2 items; staff described early wins and near-term priorities including flexible curb trials, transit-priority lanes, signal upgrades and bike parking expansion.
Brent Schultz, NDOT’s Connect Downtown coordinator, briefed the Traffic & Parking Commission on Jan. 13 about progress implementing the Connect Downtown Action Plan, a 10-year strategy identified in the Metro Nashville Transportation Plan to ease congestion and improve multimodal access inside the downtown loop.
Schultz said the plan contains about 103 projects; 65 of those are phase 1–2 priorities. Completed items include the Traffic Management Center (TMC) and a Second Avenue rebuild; 15 projects are currently underway, including adaptive signal planning and access-management coordination with planning staff. Schultz described near-term pilot work on flexible curb management, transit-priority lanes and queue jumps, and an effort to add permanent bike parking (more than 100 bike corrals already installed, with plans to add more racks).
Schultz said the flexible curb concept would give priority for deliveries, passenger loading, taxis and tour buses at different times of day and that the TPAC rideshare pilot approved the same night is a related test. He listed longer-term priorities — design discussions with WeGo Public Transit on transit corridors and the Sobro Mobility Center, mobility lane projects on Commerce and Ninth avenues, and connections to Germantown and the Gulch — and asked commissioners to expect phased project initiation and community outreach.
Commissioners asked about public safety planning and coordination with emergency services; Schultz said he met with Metro Fire to avoid conflicts with hydrants and loading areas and that NDOT is coordinating with the police department on special-event staging. Several commissioners asked for periodic status updates and a line-item list indicating which projects will require Traffic & Parking Commission review or TMP (transportation management plan) approvals.
Schultz said NDOT will publish a status spreadsheet and web summary of phase 1 items and continue stakeholder meetings on smart loading zones, valet permits and other curb-management changes. The presentation was informational; no vote was required.
