Mayoral Candidates To Be Asked How They’d Make Nashville More Walkable

The five declared mayoral candidates are expected to discuss walkability issues at an event on Wednesday. Credit: nashville.gov

The five declared candidates in the race to be Nashville’s next mayor will be talking about their visions for the city on Wednesday as it relates to bike and pedestrian issues.

Just around 6 percent of the city’s annual budget goes to funding sidewalks. But half of that money is used for repairs, not installing new ones.

Liz Thompson of the nonprofit Walk/Bike Nashville, which is organizing the candidate roundtable, says she regularly hears from residents complaining about a dearth of sidewalks in their communities — and that the next mayor needs to be receptive to those concerns.

As the Nashville Scene has pointed out, Mayor Karl Dean hasn’t ignored the sidewalk issue. He’s dedicated some $40 million for sidewalk services since he’s been in office. Mayor Bill Purcell spent around $57 million on sidewalks during his time in office, putting him at $7.2 million a year for sidewalks, compared to Dean’s $6.7 million annual average, according to the Scene.

Thompson says a considerable amount of the funding is used to bring old sidewalks up to new federal standards, like ramp and width requirements found in the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“And so now that we are working through all that, I think we can start investing in more length, adding more miles to our sidewalks and really bridging the connections between our neighborhoods,” she says.

Some cities have established a dedicated source of funding for sidewalk projects, instead of relying on funds from the general budget. Whether the candidates support separate sidewalk funding, and a slate of other bike and pedestrian proposals, is expected to be hashed out at the event.

“Walkable neighborhoods is something that Nashvillians want,” Thompson said. “This is a great time, as we’re looking at who’s going to be the new leader of the city, to get the conversational rolling on how we can create safe places for people to walk and be active.”

Full disclosure: I’m moderating the discussion, which will be held at the event space Ruby on Blakemore Avenue. It starts at 8 a.m.