With $25M Proposed For Next Year, Nashville Could Take A Stride Toward Sidewalk Goal

If the mayor’s proposed budget passes this year, Nashville will be dedicating $25 million to sidewalks — which is more funding than any other year in the past decade and a half. But some residents say it’s still just a baby step toward making the city pedestrian-friendly.

About half of the $25 million will go toward repairing existing sidewalks; the other half will go to building new ones. The average cost of sidewalks is $350 per foot, according to Metro Public Works spokeswoman Jenna Smith — though she notes the cost varies greatly from project to project — which translates to about 6.8 miles of new sidewalks.

West Nashville resident 
Stacy Dorris, who runs a blog on sidewalks in Nashville, says she’s happy to see the extra funding this year but thinks the city needs to step up even more.

“When you have a city of 533 square miles, … you can see how we would make incredibly slow progress,” she says.

The ultimate goal of the public works department, according to Smith, is to put a sidewalk on every street in Nashville.
 She acknowledges that’s a lofty goal.

“You always have more needs than you do have dollars,” she says. “Always.”

The agency uses a point system to prioritize the limited dollars they do have, Smith says. For example, it’s more likely to build sidewalks near parks, schools and bus stops — extra points if the project is eligible for state or federal funding.

The agency will be finalizing some of its plans in the coming weeks. If the budget passes, Smith says, Nashvillians should see a noticeable increase in sidewalks next year.