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Brentwood considers joining county safety action plan to pursue federal grants for Franklin Road improvements
Summary
Commissioners heard a Greater Nashville Regional Council presentation about a countywide Safety Action Plan that would let Brentwood apply for federal Safe Streets grants for pedestrian and roadway safety projects; short‑term fixes were estimated near $400,000 while lane‑widening options could top $6 million and are not being pursued now.
Brentwood commissioners on Tuesday heard a detailed presentation from the Greater Nashville Regional Council about a countywide Safety Action Plan and how adopting the city’s portion of that plan could open eligibility for federal grants, including Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A).
The council’s transportation staff told commissioners the plan identifies high‑risk corridors in Brentwood — including Franklin Road, Granny White Pike, Moores Lane and Wilson Pike — and recommends a mix of short, mid and long‑term measures such as improved signage, striping, lighting and signal work. "Just for the cost estimate for those short and midterm, we came up with around $400,000 to address some of those items," the GNRC presenter said, citing the plan’s recommended set of lower‑cost interventions.
Why it matters: adopting the plan would not itself obligate Brentwood to build any particular project, staff said, but it would be a precondition for applying for several federal grant programs that require an approved safety plan. Commissioners noted the city has capital‑matching funds in its CIP to pair with grant awards if applications succeed.
GNRC and city staff emphasized that larger projects — notably lane widening — carry much higher price tags and greater complexity. "The lane widening would jump this up to a $6,000,000 project, so we're not at least we're not even considering that," the presenter said, stressing that widening is a long‑term possibility, not the immediate focus. Staff also explained that federal grants will typically require coordination with the Tennessee Department of Transportation and federal environmental review processes such as NEPA even when funding flows directly to the city.
Commissioners asked about who would prepare grant applications and were told the city could write them using in‑house staff, hire a consultant or contract GNRC or the original plan consultant to assist; staff said there is budget for outside civil‑engineering services to support grant work. GNRC staff described the planning and modeling tools they make available to local governments, including parcel‑level growth and traffic forecasts used to support project justification.
The discussion ended with no binding commitment to specific projects. City staff and GNRC said adopting the city's portion of the Safety Action Plan would be a policy decision that enables applications for grant funding; any subsequent engineering, permitting and construction would be subject to further study, approvals and funding decisions.
