After 6 Years, Nashville Finally Shows Progress On An Urgent Stretch Of Sidewalk

An area of South Nashville that has been known as a deadly corridor for pedestrians is finally seeing progress on a lengthy sidewalk project.

It’s been six years since officials announced the upgrade for Harding Place, a busy four-lane road where people on foot have had to hug the guardrails to get by. As the latest work concludes, the sidewalk now stretches about 2 miles.

Yet some still hope for greater safety.

“I see high potential of somebody getting hit by a vehicle. I’ve seen kids out there trying to cross the street during a busy time of day,” said Peter O’Connor, an outspoken resident of the Whispering Oaks apartment complex.

The problem, O’Connor argues, is that the sidewalk is on just one side of the road — the south side — while a large number of apartments are on the opposite side.

So after $6 million, and the better part of a decade, O’Connor says the connection is welcome, but incomplete.

“I like the fact that it is here. But it’s not done yet,” he said. “My question is: Does it really take people to get killed in order to make something right?”

This sidewalk has been one of the most highly demanded in Nashville — not to encourage the healthy habit of walking, but to simply keep people safe. Pedestrians were killed in 2003 and 2014, and others have been injured. (
View the project webpage.)

So many people walk from the apartments to nearby bus stops, a hospital, a Wal-Mart and other businesses on Nolensville Pike, that dirt tracks are well worn into the grass shoulder.

High-Priority Sidewalk

Metro Public Works leaders say they would have preferred sidewalks on both sides. But even with state and federal grants covering a majority of the $12 million price tag, that wasn’t possible, said engineering project manager Jonathan Cleghon.

“Frankly, there would have been some very challenging properties to actually have to buy some homes on the north side of the road,” he said. “So the south side was selected.”

Cleghon said some concerns about safety will be addressed by new crosswalks and signals coming to several intersections. (O’Connor has asked for an entirely new traffic signal at Tanglewood Court.) A section of sidewalk from Linbar Drive to Interstate 24 will complete phase two of three.

The project has also faced setbacks since the 2010 announcement that grant money would be available.

Cleghon said surprises — like discovering unmapped underground utilities and relocating pipes and power poles — have drawn out the effort.

Design of the third and final leg is underway — connecting Danby Drive to Nolensville Pike — and will take another couple years to complete.