It’s been a transformative year at the Warner Parks in West Nashville. The popular natural area has benefitted from several upgrades. But there’s also been a snag with a proposed expansion.
Metro officials had worried of the pair of parks being ”
loved to death.” So work this year altered the traffic flow and added four parking lots that try to guide visitors to lesser-known areas.
“We’re a growing city and there’s still a great deal of pressure on the park,” said Jim Hester, who oversees natural areas for Metro Parks.
Anecdotally, the changes this year seem to be working. Hester cites the entrance at the Belle Meade gates as an example.
“That’s where you see the cars parked on the side of the road, and traffic jams on Saturday mornings,” he said. “It seems like that’s getting better … it’s definitely not fixed.”
He said adjusting habits isn’t easy. But naturalists on site — and even the nonprofit friends group for Warner Parks — have also been talking up other Davidson County natural areas as comparable alternatives.
“Once you get somebody to one of the other places, it kind of takes off on its own,” Hester said. “We’re not asking people to stop going to the place they love. We just need to kind of spread it around some more.”
Officials have also hoped that a 400-acre expansion into what’s known as the Burch Reserve will release some pressure on the Warner Parks. Access has been delayed, but work on a pedestrian tunnel is expected to be finished next year.
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