BROADWEST (former West End Summit), 36 story Conrad Hilton Hotel/condo tower, 22 story/510,000 sq. ft. office tower, 4 story/125,000 sq. ft. retail/office, 1 acre plaza, 2,500 car garage, $490 million

[donNdonelson2]

3 minutes ago, smeagolsfree said:

Speaking of pedestrians and drivers there was another pedestrian death yesterday which wets us on to another record setting year for pedestrian deaths in Nashville.

This goes back to the discussion on the West Nashville thread.. Raise hell with your Council person so they can raise hell with the Mayor so he can raise hell with the governor. In this case crap does roll up hill to get things done.

Yes, there was another tragic pedestrian death yesterday, but this one was not a person crossing at an intersection, but one mid block on a very busy street-always a VERY dangerous (and illegal) choice for a pedestrian.

[MLBrumby]

Pedestrian ways in Nashville... including (especially) downtown and midtown are abysmal. 

[12Mouth]

6 hours ago, donNdonelson2 said:

Yes, there was another tragic pedestrian death yesterday, but this one was not a person crossing at an intersection, but one mid block on a very busy street-always a VERY dangerous (and illegal) choice for a pedestrian.

Many pedestrian deaths are mid block crossings. The one last week was someone who had just been dropped off by the bus and was crossing Gallatin. But, in order to cross at a crosswalk, she would have needed to backtrack for several blocks and then walked back, which adds something like half a mile to her trip. The vast majority of people would jaywalk in this situation.

So if we actually want people to walk/bike and take transit (which is a more efficient way of moving people around the city), we should build infrastructure that supports this. Allowing a building like this to have auto ingress/egress that is so blatantly hostile to pedestrians seems to contradict the city’s ultimate goals.

[AronG]

12 hours ago, 12Mouth said:

Many pedestrian deaths are mid block crossings. The one last week was someone who had just been dropped off by the bus and was crossing Gallatin. But, in order to cross at a crosswalk, she would have needed to backtrack for several blocks and then walked back, which adds something like half a mile to her trip. The vast majority of people would jaywalk in this situation.

So if we actually want people to walk/bike and take transit (which is a more efficient way of moving people around the city), we should build infrastructure that supports this. Allowing a building like this to have auto ingress/egress that is so blatantly hostile to pedestrians seems to contradict the city’s ultimate goals.

Love the genre of drivers chiding dead pedestrians for their "illegal" behavior when we've built a system that would necessitate a half mile hike just to cross the street. I see people every day take insane risks in their cars to shave a few seconds off their commute, but sure, let's put the blame on someone who didn't want to add 10 minutes to their trip home to travel 50 feet *and died for it*.

Once you notice the weird terminology we use for these (i.e. https://usa.streetsblog.org/2019/01/14/six-ways-the-media-is-still-blaming-the-victim/) it's hard to ignore. An entire framework we've built just to avoid assigning any culpability or responsibility for a system that results in the violent death and injury of hundreds of thousands of people every year.

[UTgrad09]

It's simultaneously possible to believe that Nashville needs to improve pedestrian safety (through a variety of means) while also recognizing that sometimes it is the fault of the pedestrian in some of these tragic accidents. 

Just like there are stupid drivers, there are stupid pedestrians. The onus is on both to avoid these deadly incidents. And as said before, the city needs to invest in street improvements that promote better pedestrian safety (mid block crossings, better lighting, flashing signage, etc).

[LA_TN]

I'm a huge proponent for mid-block crossings because it gives so much visibility to the pedestrian. Crossing at a street corner is hazardous due to turning cars with limited sight distance. After seeing mid-block crossings in action in other cities, one quickly recognizes the safety factor is a bazillion times better. It involves putting the crosswalk in the middle of the block with a signal light to stop traffic. Need a red stoplight, not some flashing yellow light

[12Mouth]

11 hours ago, UTgrad09 said:

It's simultaneously possible to believe that Nashville needs to improve pedestrian safety (through a variety of means) while also recognizing that sometimes it is the fault of the pedestrian in some of these tragic accidents. 

Just like there are stupid drivers, there are stupid pedestrians. The onus is on both to avoid these deadly incidents. And as said before, the city needs to invest in street improvements that promote better pedestrian safety (mid block crossings, better lighting, flashing signage, etc).

I don’t really disagree with any of this. But I think that most pedestrians who are choosing to cross mid block instead of add 15 minutes to their journey are not stupid. Can you imagine if we required all cars getting off the freeway to turn right, drive for seven minutes, do a u turn and drive back for seven minutes instead of allowing a left turn? Every car would make an illegal left turn in that situation, which basically describes what we do to many who ride the bus every day.

Focusing on the fault of a pedestrian who is making the same decision that most people would make in the exact same situation is not helpful. Asking what we can do to stop these deaths from happening is helpful (and the answer is not telling people to stop crossing or wear brighter clothing).

[MLBrumby]

You’ve just described the Detroit ‘left’ turn. It’s a right turn then a U turn. It’s not very helpful to pedestrians either.

Edited January 31, 2020 by MLBrumby

[Bos2Nash]

This is why as our neighborhoods continue to develop (even with cooper at the helm) we need to press our local city officials for the improved pedestrian infrastructure that we all talk about. I know it’s been discussed over on the East Nashville and Councilman Withers has been great at communicating information with us about things in that area, but as streets such as Gallatin and Dickerson develop, things such as mid-block crossings will be imperative. Public works may find these to be troublesome, but quite honestly I would rather have public works people have to think about their work a bit more and have safe crossing points then read about record breaking pedestrian death numbers. 
 

Turbo Nashville and the NCDC are amazing local resources, also the National Association of City Transportation Officials (https://nacto.org) is great one that I use a lot as well

[UTgrad09]

4 hours ago, 12Mouth said:

I don’t really disagree with any of this. But I think that most pedestrians who are choosing to cross mid block instead of add 15 minutes to their journey are not stupid. Can you imagine if we required all cars getting off the freeway to turn right, drive for seven minutes, do a u turn and drive back for seven minutes instead of allowing a left turn? Every car would make an illegal left turn in that situation, which basically describes what we do to many who ride the bus every day.

Focusing on the fault of a pedestrian who is making the same decision that most people would make in the exact same situation is not helpful. Asking what we can do to stop these deaths from happening is helpful (and the answer is not telling people to stop crossing or wear brighter clothing).

So in your mind, is the pedestrian never at fault?

[12Mouth]

2 minutes ago, UTgrad09 said:

So in your mind, is the pedestrian never at fault?

Of course not. There are tons of pedestrians who make bad decisions every day. There are pedestrians that refuse to walk 10 yards to a signaled crossing. I just think that a lot of people make unsafe decisions because we are pushing them to make those decisions with our infrastructure and they are decisions that you or I would probably make if we were in the same situation. In those cases, the helpful answer is not, "well, that pedestrian made a bad decision," but instead, "wow - is our infrastructure here causing pedestrians to make bad decisions?" Many locations where pedestrians are hit making these insane crossings are at bus stops, and many areas, different people keep getting hit in the same places.

I've never seen a problem solved by saying, "hey - that was a bad decision by a pedestrian." Now sometimes, the question is, "could infrastructure have made this better?" and the answer is no. Unfortunately, there are many areas of this city where we know people are getting hit over and over again and still haven't taken action. 

This is old, but it gets the point across (and we still haven't fixed most of them): https://www.walkbikenashville.org/impossible_crossings_transit

If we want people to walk through our neighborhoods, we need to actively encourage it (and also stop cars from killing pedestrians). The numbers in the last two weeks alone are really troubling. 

[UTgrad09]

Thanks for the clarification. I largely agree with those points.

[e-dub]

5 hours ago, MLBrumby said:

You’ve just described the Detroit ‘left’ turn. It’s a right turn then a U turn. It’s not very helpful to pedestrians either.

I've always known it as a Michigan left and they're SO WEIRD.

[Native]

4 hours ago, 12Mouth said:

Of course not. There are tons of pedestrians who make bad decisions every day. There are pedestrians that refuse to walk 10 yards to a signaled crossing. I just think that a lot of people make unsafe decisions because we are pushing them to make those decisions with our infrastructure and they are decisions that you or I would probably make if we were in the same situation. In those cases, the helpful answer is not, "well, that pedestrian made a bad decision," but instead, "wow - is our infrastructure here causing pedestrians to make bad decisions?" Many locations where pedestrians are hit making these insane crossings are at bus stops, and many areas, different people keep getting hit in the same places.

I've never seen a problem solved by saying, "hey - that was a bad decision by a pedestrian." Now sometimes, the question is, "could infrastructure have made this better?" and the answer is no. Unfortunately, there are many areas of this city where we know people are getting hit over and over again and still haven't taken action. 

This is old, but it gets the point across (and we still haven't fixed most of them): https://www.walkbikenashville.org/impossible_crossings_transit

If we want people to walk through our neighborhoods, we need to actively encourage it (and also stop cars from killing pedestrians). The numbers in the last two weeks alone are really troubling. 

 

3 hours ago, UTgrad09 said:

Thanks for the clarification. I largely agree with those points.

I have a conspiracy theory on this.  More than ten years ago, when Tennessean reporters and editors parked in a lot on Broadway across from the main office, they engineered a sign (apparently installed by the city) that had an arrow pointing at the crosswalk that said "State Law".  The obvious intent was to suggest to the motorists on six lanes on Broadway that if they didn't watch out they would be violating a state law by driving through the crosswalk.  Of course the state law requires both motorists and pedestrians to exercise caution when dealing with a crosswalk, but it does NOT say a pedestrian can walk out in front of a car going 30 mph and require it to slam on the brakes to avoid a collision.  Yet , now these signs are all over town and many pedestrians obviously think they can simply walk out into traffic and make everyone stop.  So the above discussion is "right on" as we need to construct better crosswalks and educate everyone as to their legal duties.  It would save lives and make the city more "walkable", which is going to become increasingly important.

[MLBrumby]

Recently, I was driving to Belmont University.... and had to go to the Law School. There is a roundabout there. As I approached.. and there's  a crosswalk just beyond, I saw a young woman walking toward the crosswalk. I slowed down. She was looking at her phone. Of course, I stopped, but she never looked up from her phone as she proceeded across the street in front of me. I thought, "good thing I'm not a drunk driver." 

[Sean blackdog]

Today this evening. 

[Native]

At least we will have something cool to look at when we are stuck in traffic on Broadway.

[markhollin]

Up to 12th floor of Office Tower now., glass beginning to be installed on 3 sides.  2nd level above grade along West End Ave. on Condo/Hotel Tower.

Looking east from intersection of West End Ave. and 17th Ave:

Looking west from Broadway, 1/4 block east of 16th Ave:

Looking NW from intersection of Broadway and 16th Ave:

Looking north from intersection of West End Ave. and 17th Ave:




Looking SE from intersection of Hayes St. and 17th Ave. North:

[evansnathan]

 

[downtownresident]

From this morning. 

[titanhog]

^^I like that blue glass look.  Looking around town, it seems we have blue, green, black and silver reflected glass on buildings.  Is there any other color that you guys have ever seen?  I know occasionally you'll see gold...but that was more of a 70's-80's thing...right?

[DeemonBruhn]

^^I like that blue glass look.  Looking around town, it seems we have blue, green, black and silver reflected glass on buildings.  Is there any other color that you guys have ever seen?  I know occasionally you'll see gold...but that was more of a 70's-80's thing...right?

There is a pink... not used widely for obvious reasons!

[rolly]

If you like pink, you can have your pink.

That's 'The Arlington' in Charlotte.  Ya.  Ooof. 

[BnaBreaker]

The building itself is pretty ho-hum but I like the color... I don't see what makes blue glass inherently more sensible... why not add a little color?  

[dxfret]

The office building with gold glass on Briley Pkwy near the entrance to the old airport terminal has always been especially hideous and has not aged well.