NDOT proposes speed cushions for Rawlings Road after residents report speeding and cut-through traffic

David Greaves, a civil engineer with the Nashville Department of Transportation (NDOT), told residents at a neighborhood meeting that NDOT plans a speed-cushion design for Rawlings Road to reduce vehicle speeds and improve safety.

NDOT selected Rawlings Road as one of 25 streets from more than 600 applications and presented data showing the street’s 80th-percentile speed was 38 miles per hour and that 616 vehicles were recorded during a 24‑hour count. “This is a program that focuses on residential streets,” Greaves said, explaining the agency’s emphasis on engineering solutions that produce permanent, physical speed reduction.

The program’s goal is to reduce speeds over significant street lengths rather than single‑intersection treatments. Greaves said the traffic‑calming toolbox emphasizes engineering measures that work at all times, rather than relying solely on education or enforcement. He cited NDOT’s earlier evaluation of six traffic‑calming projects that showed average speeds dropping from 31 mph to 22 mph and 80th‑percentile speeds falling from 37 mph to 25 mph after installation.

Residents told NDOT staff the street functions as a morning…