A gaggle of Nashville officials took a walking field trip Monday to see the future location of a controversial pedestrian bridge. And while revisiting the project’s history and the possible designs for the walkway, several questioned its $18 million price tag.
Yet for all the criticisms, the project is still on track for a smooth approval by the Metro Council.
The bridge is supposed to span over several downtown train tracks to connect two areas: The Gulch and Sobro. It would serve foot traffic to the Music City Center, several hotels and concert venues, and the high-rise residents in the densely developed Gulch neighborhood. (
View the project’s website.)
Despite quite a bit of hand-wringing, the bridge and its funding were first approved under former mayor Karl Dean.
For Councilman Steve Glover, the question remains: Why spend so much on a downtown project when other countywide projects languish?
“I think it’s ridiculous,” Glover said. “We’re talking about spending $18 million to put a bridge across here, when you can walk one block that way or this way and get to the same place.”
Glover, who voted against the bridge before, said he stands firm.
“It was never palatable to me,” he said.
Glover was joined by Councilman John Cooper.
“Is this the bridge that we need? Is it the right bridge for us? Is it connective for us? Or is it really just helping just a very few people go from point to point?” Cooper asked. “You really don’t want one of these Nashville moments, where you land [a route] and you can’t really go anywhere.”
Some answers came from Metro Planning and Metro Public Works, whose top leaders said the bridge is a crucial connection that will encourage development. They said the route has been sought after for years — ever since the Sobro Master Plan found shortcomings in east-west travel across downtown.
Planning Director Doug Sloan said the existing routes along 8
th Avenue and Demonbreun Street are dangerous and unaccommodating to travelers with disabilities.
“This connection at this location does a great deal,” he said.
Opposition Peters Out
While the council members came out swinging on the sidewalk, opposition didn’t amount to votes at a Metro Council budget committee meeting about an hour after the site visit.
Glover got an assurance that the project could not exceed $18 million without further consideration by the council.
- Learn more about
the potential bridge design. - See how
the bridge financing has changed.
And some members made symbolic pleas for infrastructure spending in their neighborhoods.
But a large contingent warned that going back on the bridge project would erase the prior Metro Council’s decision, which itself included fierce debate and substantial research.
“If we start dismantling bills or programs that were created by the previous council … we’re going to set a precedent,” said Councilman Bill Pridemore. “If the funds have been appropriated, and the project approved, I think we need to leave it alone.”
Others spoke in favor of a related land deal that would generate roughly $8 million for the Nashville Metropolitan Transit Authority, which currently owns property near the proposed bridge.
The sale of that parcel would help Metro obtain the land it prefers for the bridge, which would start in Sobro near the intersection of 10
th Avenue and Lea Street (near Cannery Row) and cross over into the Gulch at 11
th Avenue.
The land deal — which awaits Metro Council approval on Tuesday night — is what triggered the latest round of discussion.
And within an hour of the field trip, the council’s budget committee gave a unanimous endorsement to move forward with the deal and the bridge.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM