Metro explains $104M drawdown and near-term transit projects, including airport service upgrades
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Summary
Choose How You Move staff described a $104,000,000 capital drawdown to fund sidewalks, signals, fiber, safety and all-access corridors; WeGo and airport officials described planned frequency increases and route extensions to the airport and said bus deliveries tied to new orders are expected in 2027–28.
City officials outlined how a recently announced $104,000,000 capital drawdown will be used to advance short-, medium- and long-term transportation projects across the county.
"That accounting is in front of you separated by sidewalk, signal, service, safety, and then all access corridors," Sabrina Sussman, lead of the Choose How You Move office, told the joint committee. She said the money was initially appropriated in the fiscal year 26 budget and the drawdown calls attention to how Metro will spend it.
The packet before council members also included a map showing projects already underway and a separate district-level sheet. "For all of the questions on what actually in my district is being funded, you now have that in front of you," Sussman said.
Michael Briggs, deputy chief program officer for Choose How You Move, said many sidewalks listed for District 2 are funded for construction and that the drawdown clearly identifies which signal phases the 104M will cover.
WeGo executives and airport representatives detailed proposed changes to airport transit service. "The 55 — by far our busiest route — would double in frequency," Steve Bland said, describing a plan to operate the 55 every 5–6 minutes on its core segment and run every 15 minutes into the airport; the '18 Airport via Elm Hill Pike route would move from every 45 minutes to every 30 minutes. Bland said additional cross-town connections and a Donaldson Station link to the Opry Mills area are in design.
An airport official said the authority models vehicle and passenger flows and is coordinating with Metro. The airport speaker said the agency is modeling a roughly $2.96 billion program of improvements in planned construction and that ground-transportation design accommodates current modeled traffic volumes.
On vehicles, staff said the 104M allows Metro to place a bus order with deliveries projected in 2027–28; however, other buses already on backorder will arrive sooner. "Bus acquisition takes a really long time... so you sort of put aside the money now and expect delivery of the bus in years to come," Sussman said.
Councilmembers asked about Main Gallatin, where NDOT and the Choose How You Move team said they are revisiting the corridor's scope, aiming to bring the project to 30% design, deploy interim safety improvements, then continue toward full pre-project development between Fifth Street and Briley Parkway.
Amanda Deaton Moyer of the Department of Finance said sales-tax revenue from the program to date is about $96,000,000. Officials said they expect to request the next drawdown following passage of the 2027 operating budget, likely around July, and that some future funding may be structured with debt depending on spending pace.
The committee took no final vote on the drawdown in the meeting; staff committed to provide more district-specific timelines and an updated outreach schedule for JourneyPass events later in the week.