Nashville is growing fast, but as a city largely designed around cars, its pedestrian infrastructure is seriously lagging. Only about 19 percent of Nashville streets have sidewalks. A callout to WPLN listeners yielded some common themes: too many streets and neighborhoods with no sidewalks, making for dangerous walking conditions; and too many gaps between existing sidewalks.
In 2020, a Metro report identified 71 so-called “priority miles,” where sidewalks were needed most urgently, but the timeline to get those sidewalks built is 20 years long. Metro also identified another 1,900 miles of “greatest need” sidewalks — and a total of 4,700 miles of missing sidewalk segments across Davidson County. How do we fill these needs as the city continues to grow?
But first, WPLN political reporter Blaise Gainey has the latest on redistricting and what it means for the upcoming elections.
Guests:
- Blaise Gainey, WPLN political reporter
- Quinn Howard, Murfreesboro resident
- Matt Hertz, Nashville resident
- Cathy Carrillo, Education and Engagement Manager at Walk Bike Nashville
- Emily Benedict, Metro Council member, District 7
- Diana Alarcon, Director, Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure
Additional reading:
This Is Nashville: Citizen Nashville: The challenges of navigating Middle Tennessee with a disability — and what can be done to make it more accessible
WPLN: To build new sidewalks in Nashville, it’s a balance of safety, equity and climate concerns
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