Nashville Needs $814M in Sidewalk, Bikeway Spending: Report

NASHVILLE, TN — Bringing Nashville's sidewalk and bikeway up to snuff will cost $814 million over the next five years, according to a report released Monday. The WalknBike draft plan is the first update to Metro's sidewalk plan in eight years.

The plan says the city needs more than 1,900 miles of new sidewalks while admitting that's far from realistic. Instead, it identifies 91 miles as critical needs, but even that fraction will cost $550 million. The report also calls for $223 million in repairs to existing sidewalks and another $41 million for 41 miles of priority bikeways as part of a new bike-path network.

Mayor Megan Barry noted the "sticker shock" associated with the plan, which calls for all that spending in just the next five years.

"That’s probably not realistic given the fact that we do have finite resources and we have a lot have other infrastructure needs that are important to our city," Barry said, according to The Tennessean. "However, having this information is important."

Even though Barry and her predecessor Karl Dean ramped up sidewalk spending, the last Metro budget called for just $30 million for sidewalks and even that has resulted in frustratingly slow progress.

The draft report is available for public review until the end of the month before the strategy is finalized. Then Barry must decide how much spending to include in her budget, set to be presented to the Metro Council in the spring.

Even still, long-time sidewalk advocates like Councilmember Angie Henderson are encouraged.

"I am more optimistic than I have ever been in my 15 years of advocacy," she said according to WPLN. "The task before us is daunting, but all journeys begin with one step. So to my colleagues, I say let’s lace up our walking shoes and step out together to make a difference … this year."

Image by J.R. Lind, Patch staff