More speed bumps in Nashville? Yes, as neighborhoods clamor for ‘traffic calming’ measures

Whatever opinions you have about speed bumps, there’s no questioning that they are in high demand in Nashville neighborhoods.

Metro recently announced its latest batch of “traffic calming” projects, and in doing so surpassed the milestone of 400 neighborhood streets getting special attention since 2021.

Traffic calming refers to an array of safety strategies, from installing speed bumps (or “cushions”) to painting more prominent crosswalks, lowering speed limits, adding traffic circle roundabouts or otherwise redesigning the look or feel of a street to slow — or “calm” — driving speeds.

The Nashville Department of Transportation, and its predecessor agency, began evaluating proposals from neighborhoods in 2019. NDOT scores potential projects by doing things like studying car speeds, counting traffic volume and injuries and fatalities, and factoring in how many destinations are nearby, such as schools or libraries. NDOT also holds localized voting among residents to make sure that at least two-thirds favor the idea.

NDOT chooses 25 projects at a time. That is a small fraction of the demand. The latest round saw more than 600 applications. That’s similar to recent years.

Also familiar: the winning projects dot the map. This time, more than half of city council districts are getting at least one project. You can view the traffic calming project tracker online.