The Transportation and Mass Transit Megathread

[markhollin]

Thanks for keeping the conversation civil everyone.  As nashville-bound suggested, this political philosophy dialogue might fit best in the Coffeehouse section.  I see that he started a thread on the very topic .  : )
 

[AronG]

Some clear-headed thoughts from CM Bob Mendes:

http://www.mendesfornashville.com/transit-thoughts-1-23-18/

[nashwatcher]

You guys hear Trump's speech today? Said something like 1-1.7 trillion in new infrastructure spending. Thats a GOOD SIGN for federal funding of our transit system right?

[Pdt2f]

3 minutes ago, nashwatcher said:

You guys hear Trump's speech today? Said something like 1-1.7 trillion in new infrastructure spending. Thats a GOOD SIGN for federal funding of our transit system right?

A great sign, if he can get congress to play ball. That was part of his campaign pitch, increased funding for infrastructure building and repair. 

[LA_TN]

I-440 Reconstruction Project Update

Construction expected to start this summer and possibly last 3 years

Surface will be converted to asphalt and widened to 3 lanes in each direction throughout the entire length

[titanhog]

10 minutes ago, LA_TN said:

I-440 Reconstruction Project Update

Construction expected to start this summer and possibly last 3 years

Surface will be converted to asphalt and widened to 3 lanes in each direction throughout the entire length

Finally!!  And asphalt is a good call.

Edited January 25, 2018 by titanhog

[markhollin]

Mayor Barry and 100 other mayors meet with the President regarding infrastructure:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2018/01/24/nashville-mayor-barry-set-meet-president-trump-talk-infrastructure-despite-boycott/1062668001/

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2018/01/24/why-mayor-barry-went-to-the-white-house-today.html

[Pdt2f]

1 hour ago, LA_TN said:

I-440 Reconstruction Project Update

Construction expected to start this summer and possibly last 3 years

Surface will be converted to asphalt and widened to 3 lanes in each direction throughout the entire length

 

[Tennessine]

1 hour ago, LA_TN said:

I-440 Reconstruction Project Update

Construction expected to start this summer and possibly last 3 years

Surface will be converted to asphalt and widened to 3 lanes in each direction throughout the entire length

Thank goodness! The sensation I get when I drive on 440 feels like it's ripping my tires to shreds.

Edited January 25, 2018 by nativetenn

[titanhog]

Anyone notice that instead of replacing any damaged bricks in that cool cobblestone / brick layout on the Music Row Roundabout...they just paved over it?!  So now, about a ¼ of the roundabout is asphalt with the remainder being cobblestone.  PLEASE tell me they'll re-do the cobblestone once they install the fountains?

[samsonh]

12 hours ago, nashwatcher said:

You guys hear Trump's speech today? Said something like 1-1.7 trillion in new infrastructure spending. Thats a GOOD SIGN for federal funding of our transit system right?

Doubtful much comes of this. They want to leverage private money for the vast majority of this spending. There really is no “plan” here. Hopefully I’m wrong, as this country needs it.

[NashvilleObserver]

9 hours ago, nativetenn said:

Thank goodness! The sensation I get when I drive on 440 feels like it's ripping my tires to shreds.

Yesterday I was moving slowly in traffic on I-440 and it was ridiculously bumpy. I was being jostled around the car. Has it gotten worse lately?? Or have I just never noticed because I'm usually driving fast...

[Pdt2f]

7 minutes ago, NashvilleObserver said:

Yesterday I was moving slowly in traffic on I-440 and it was ridiculously bumpy. I was being jostled around the car. Has it gotten worse lately?? Or have I just never noticed because I'm usually driving fast...

It’s always bad but I would say the third-worldliness of it peaks after a freeze like we had last week. 

[tragenvol]

Completely awful yesterday.

[smeagolsfree]

Yep, and starting in a few months you will have to deal with three years of construction on 440.

[markhollin]

Transportation expert Yonah Freemark has written an article supporting the Mass Transit Plan. here's an excerpt:

"Moreover, the plan’s opponents are missing the larger issue: This transit plan isn’t really about responding to Nashville’s current travel patterns, for better or worse. It’s about creating a framework for the future development of the city around a reliable transit system. If the proposal is successfully implemented, it will make it possible to have a transit-oriented life in a city where living without a car is now virtually impossible. It will create the groundwork for an alternative mode of development than the parking-heavy construction that currently dominates."

"The advantage with transit is that it gives everybody choices and gives you a different type of community. … Do you want to allow people the choice of an alternative lifestyle or rely on a car for every possible trip?"

Full article here:

https://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2018/01/23/nashville-plans-for-a-big-boost-in-local-transit-and-is-hoping-its-voters-will-step-on-board/#comment-943022

[Dale]

Polls still looking favorable ?

[titanhog]

I like the way Freemark explains it.  That, to me, is a reasonable response.

[Flatrock]

From Curbed - via Flipboard's Urban Design magazine:

"Why It's So Expensive To Build Urban Rail In The U.S."

- a good, well researched article with some startling insights -

Just hope Nashville's heads of Transportation & Sustainability are reading this stuff...

https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2018/01/why-its-so-expensive-to-build-urban-rail-in-the-us/551408/

[Edgefield D]

7 hours ago, Flatrock said:

From Curbed - via Flipboard's Urban Design magazine:

"Why It's So Expensive To Build Urban Rail In The U.S."

- a good, well researched article with some startling insights -

Just hope Nashville's heads of Transportation & Sustainability are reading this stuff...

https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2018/01/why-its-so-expensive-to-build-urban-rail-in-the-us/551408/

That was an interesting article. There is no question we need a transit system and I like the one proposed. What I took from the article is that project management plays a huge role when it comes to cost.

[Flatrock]

3 hours ago, Edgefield D said:

What I took from the article is that project management plays a huge role when it comes to cost.

Yep. That was my biggest takeaway, too.

[PaulChinetti]

“After the transit agency fired the contractor and hired a new general manager to oversee the project, it reduced the budget to $2.3 billion from a previous $3 billion. Of the $2.3 billion price tag, only $1.1 billion is for actual construction, whereas much of the rest is sunk cost is due to the botched earlier version of the extension.”

So going bedrock cheap from the beginning isn’t always the best bet?? Craziness 

[grilled_cheese]

Well, if you thought the transit debate was a little dull it's possibly going to get a little more interesting.

[tragenvol]

4 hours ago, grilled_cheese said:

Well, if you thought the transit debate was a little dull it's possibly going to get a little more interesting.

For real.

[henburg]

Will this scandal really affect the transit plan at all? What possible argument could somebody have that the two are linked?