Planners Looking for Ways to Get Trucks off the Interstate

Federal development planners in Nashville are looking for new ways to take 18-wheelers off the interstate grid.

More than 46-thousand big rigs move through Nashville every day, adding to what’s becoming a much more congested interstate system over time. Nearly two-thirds of those tractor trailers are not bound for Music City but move on to other parts of the state or country. That’s according to a 2004 study by the Nashville area Metropolitan Planning Organization.

The MPO moves into the second phase of that study in the next few weeks. Planners will begin looking at the most cost effective way to reduce the impact of trucks on Nashville traffic.

MPO director Michael Skipper has a few ideas about what researchers will find.

“Probably the best solution for dealing with trucks coming through our region are either through more investment in our rail system so freight could be redirected to rail off of trucks or through improving major highway facilities around our region so they aren’t competing for highway space through the heart of our region.”

Skipper says so-called ‘piggy-backing,’ where trailers are stacked on rail cars, or building highway bypasses aren’t necessarily independent answers to calming freight traffic. He says the researchers’ findings will include a combination of methods, which are expected by fall of next year.