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Council approves IGA to obligate $3 million federal earmark for Jefferson Street corridor planning
Summary
Committee approved an intergovernmental agreement to obligate a $3 million federal earmark for a Jefferson Street corridor planning and environmental linkages study, with a required 20% local match.
The Metropolitan Council Budget & Finance Committee approved an intergovernmental agreement with the Tennessee Department of Transportation to proceed with North Nashville’s Jefferson Street corridor planning and environmental linkages (PEL) study using a federal earmark.
Matt Purvis, council liaison for the department, and Justin Cole, transportation planner for NDOT, confirmed the funding is a federal earmark of $3,000,000 that requires a 20% local match. Purvis said Metro had already begun planning work using local capital spending plan dollars so the city could meet matching obligations and preserve the earmark. “If we kick it anymore the feds will most likely remote take their money back,” Purvis said, urging the committee to proceed in order to avoid losing the earmarked funds.
Cole explained the PEL study is a planning phase that evaluates alternatives and sets the project up for National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review, design and potential construction. Councilmembers emphasized community engagement; Purvis and Cole described a community advisory board that had met multiple times and a series of outreach events. Councilmember Evan Siegel clarified that the requirement to consider a cap is part of the review but does not limit the study to only that option.
The committee approved the intergovernmental agreement by voice vote. The study will evaluate a series of alternatives with community participation and allow Metro to begin obligating the federal funds and drawing down the earmark.
