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The Transportation and Mass Transit Megathread


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On 5/16/2022 at 3:19 PM, Nathan_in_DC said:

I also used the hubNashville app to request a crosswalk be placed along Wedgewood between 21st and 17th, as this four block section that should be the heart of a walkable is impossible to safely cross. The city actually was responsive, as I got a call back today from a traffic engineer who wanted to talk about my request. He wanted my input as to whether or not 50 people cross this street daily... I advised that probably not, since there isn't a safe, marked crosswalk with pedestrian signals (a la the one on 21st in Hillsboro Village). He said that the city's current policy was not to put crosswalks on 4 Lane roads that don't have a signal or stop sign unless 50 people already cross there every day.

I wanted to follow up so you all could see the response I got from the city when they closed out the ticket:

This location does not meet the criteria to justify a crosswalk due to unprotected location crossing four lanes. It does not meet the 50 people crossing either. No further action recommended.

So, the city won't build a crosswalk, because...it's an unprotected area crossing four lanes? And 50 people aren't already jaywalking there? This is one of the dumbest policies I've ever heard of.

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1 hour ago, Nathan_in_DC said:

I wanted to follow up so you all could see the response I got from the city when they closed out the ticket:

This location does not meet the criteria to justify a crosswalk due to unprotected location crossing four lanes. It does not meet the 50 people crossing either. No further action recommended.

So, the city won't build a crosswalk, because...it's an unprotected area crossing four lanes? And 50 people aren't already jaywalking there? This is one of the dumbest policies I've ever heard of.

Absolutely baffling.  This is kind of like refusing to build a new road through a field because there isn't any car traffic going through the field currently.  Well... yeah... because it's physically impossible to do so... hence the NEED. 

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On 6/25/2022 at 2:42 PM, PaulChinetti said:

We should just elevate everything down the middle of all the major arteries. I’d be down for that. 
Do everything pre fab. So you are only doing construction for the stations and the piers onsite, and even then prefab the stations.  

I agree with @rookziethat elevated doesn't seem like a palatable way to go. Personally, for me, I would also hate the aesthetic of building an above grade system. The elevation changes of downtown alone would make it basically impossible for an at-grade solution and an elevated system in downtown would face the same issues. I guess on some of the arterial boulevards it could work, but essentially the elevated portions would have to be outside of the inner loop and possibly the 440 loop because the elevation changes would have to be so moderate for the trains. and going up and over or under the highways could turn into a nightmare.

To me though, the aesthetics alone would be the biggest downside for me haha.

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5 minutes ago, BnaBreaker said:

Absolutely baffling.  This is kind of like refusing to build a new road through a field because there isn't any car traffic going through the field currently.  Well... yeah... because it's physically impossible to do so... hence the NEED. 

Maybe if they get 8 or 9 requests all for a crosswalk in this same spot, they'll listen... I get that the city can't just plop down a crosswalk across a 4-lane road everywhere they want, but this is a growing, walkable neighborhood that has a ton of foot traffic. Frankly, there's zero reason there shouldn't be a crosswalk at every single intersection on Wedgewood/Blakemore between I-65 and Charlotte. As it stands, it's very easy for a pedestrian in this area to have to walk a quarter mile out of their way just to safely cross the street at a marked intersection. 

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2 hours ago, Nathan_in_DC said:

I wanted to follow up so you all could see the response I got from the city when they closed out the ticket:

This location does not meet the criteria to justify a crosswalk due to unprotected location crossing four lanes. It does not meet the 50 people crossing either. No further action recommended.

So, the city won't build a crosswalk, because...it's an unprotected area crossing four lanes? And 50 people aren't already jaywalking there? This is one of the dumbest policies I've ever heard of.

The first rationale ("due to unprotected location crossing four lanes") doesn't really hold water since there are not one, but two, unprotected (intersections without traffic lights) four-lane crosswalks further down on Wedgewood at Hillside Ave and Elliott Ave.     

I expect if you had a petition signed by 50 people in the neighborhood saying we would use a crosswalk if it existed might satisfy the second criteria. 

 

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4 hours ago, Bos2Nash said:

I agree with @rookziethat elevated doesn't seem like a palatable way to go. Personally, for me, I would also hate the aesthetic of building an above grade system. The elevation changes of downtown alone would make it basically impossible for an at-grade solution and an elevated system in downtown would face the same issues. I guess on some of the arterial boulevards it could work, but essentially the elevated portions would have to be outside of the inner loop and possibly the 440 loop because the elevation changes would have to be so moderate for the trains. and going up and over or under the highways could turn into a nightmare.

To me though, the aesthetics alone would be the biggest downside for me haha.

In my opinion downtown is the only place in the city that an underground or elevated system might... MIGHT be necessary.  Every other neighborhood in the city with maybe the exception of 12 South and Germantown has at least a few streets that are plenty wide enough and flat enough to accommodate an at-grade system plus multiple lanes of car traffic.  Practically every major city in every developed country in the world has at grade light rail of some kind (unless they have heavy rail,) and Nashville probably has wider streets than all of them perhaps with the exception of some cities in the former Soviet bloc.  So to me, there is really no practical reason why we couldn't do that here too.  

Edited by BnaBreaker
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Nashville has many disconnected streets and lots of dead ends.  For various reasons, the grid (such as it was) was chopped up over the last several decades (e.g. Construction of Interstates, James Robertson Pkwy and Ellington Pkwy, etc.). I'd like to see a transit plan that would reconnect once-busy streets that were broken apart by Interstate construction in the 1960s and 70s,  That was the nub of my suggested routes for a western LR line, to go down Commerce (one of the widest streets downtown) then through the Gulch along Grundy Street, then across I-40 to connect to Hayes Street on the west side.  To Rookzie's point, a little foresight on the part of Metro with the developers of the NY would allow enough space between the Pinnacle tower and the NY apartment tower.  A similar route could reconnect 6th Avenue S. to one of the streets in WeHo by way of Ft. Negley (maybe to Martin Street, but the Sims & Lohman warehouse, which is for sale, will not go cheap. Another possibility is 3rd Avenue S. over/under the I-40 expressway.  Another possibility is Peabody Street over the Cumberland with a multi-modal (walk, bike, transit) bridge over to South First or Third Streets. Then another route connecting Germantown/North Nashville and possibly another (transit, bike, walk) bridge over the Cumberland to connect to the River North/ Oracle complex.  I've heard that North Nashville has the most disconnected streets in the city (like a transit line that  connects 12th Avenue from north of I-40 to south of I-40 and/or to 11th Avenue).  I list these just as examples for real possibilities for new routes and on streets that don't currently take a lot of traffic.    

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WeGo has added new bus routes serving Gallatin/Hendersonville, Springfield/Joelton, and Clarksville that will start on July 5th.

More at WKRN here:

https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/wego-adding-bus-services-to-nashville-from-more-middle-tennessee-cities/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2022.07.29 NASH&utm_term=NASHtoday Subscribers - MASTER

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27 minutes ago, markhollin said:

WeGo has added new bus routes serving Gallatin/Hendersonville, Springfield/Joelton, and Clarksville that will start on July 5th.

More at WKRN here:

https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/wego-adding-bus-services-to-nashville-from-more-middle-tennessee-cities/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2022.07.29 NASH&utm_term=NASHtoday Subscribers - MASTER

Regional transit for the desperate. That service schedule is brutal 

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1 hour ago, Nashvillain said:

Regional transit for the desperate. That service schedule is brutal 

While yes it is an atrocious schedule, hopefully now that they at least have it implemented they can begin to tweak the scheduling (specifically the departure times) to be more suitable to folks. I am glad to see these are essentially "express" bus routes that come down the highway with the intent of being a commuting alternative.

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Are the time atrocious because of when they depart Nashville?

  • 87 Gallatin/Hendersonville – Buses will depart the Greensboro North Park & Ride at 7:04 a.m. and Wedgewood and 16th in Nashville at 3:33 p.m.
  • 89 Springfield/Joelton – Buses will depart the Downtown Springfield Park & Ride at 6:18 a.m. and Wedgewood and 16th in Nashville at 4:43 p.m.
  • 94 Clarksville – Buses will depart the Clarksville Park & Ride (Exit 11) at 6:20 a.m. and Broadway & 10th in Nashville at 4:35 p.m.
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19 minutes ago, PaulChinetti said:

Are the time atrocious because of when they depart Nashville?

  • 87 Gallatin/Hendersonville – Buses will depart the Greensboro North Park & Ride at 7:04 a.m. and Wedgewood and 16th in Nashville at 3:33 p.m.
  • 89 Springfield/Joelton – Buses will depart the Downtown Springfield Park & Ride at 6:18 a.m. and Wedgewood and 16th in Nashville at 4:43 p.m.
  • 94 Clarksville – Buses will depart the Clarksville Park & Ride (Exit 11) at 6:20 a.m. and Broadway & 10th in Nashville at 4:35 p.m.

I'd say both. And that there's only one all day. This is the kind of bare bones scheduling that only works for people with no other options. It's not about providing an alternative to car commuting

But hey, maybe the routes will be packed and they'll add more

Edited by Nashvillain
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43 minutes ago, PaulChinetti said:

Are the time atrocious because of when they depart Nashville?

  • 87 Gallatin/Hendersonville – Buses will depart the Greensboro North Park & Ride at 7:04 a.m. and Wedgewood and 16th in Nashville at 3:33 p.m.
  • 89 Springfield/Joelton – Buses will depart the Downtown Springfield Park & Ride at 6:18 a.m. and Wedgewood and 16th in Nashville at 4:43 p.m.
  • 94 Clarksville – Buses will depart the Clarksville Park & Ride (Exit 11) at 6:20 a.m. and Broadway & 10th in Nashville at 4:35 p.m.

How do they expect the 87 route to cater to commuters? It doesn't even span a typical 8-hour work day! This is just really, really poor planning. 

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All those routes already exist, they just added a trip to each. Granted, in the case of the 89 that brings the total number of trips each way to TWO.

https://www.wegotransit.com/ride/bus-schedules/

Few of them leave Nashville in the afternoon later than 5pm. I was told long ago that these routes cater to state workers, many of whom have offset schedules. (Which did me no good as a non-state worker trying to get to Clarksville on a regular basis.)

Edited by drewbert
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15 minutes ago, drewbert said:

All those routes already exist, they just added a trip to each. Granted, in the case of the 89 that brings the total number of trips each way to TWO.

https://www.wegotransit.com/ride/bus-schedules/

Few of them leave Nashville in the afternoon later than 5pm. I was told long ago that these routes cater to state workers, many of whom have offset schedules. (Which did me no good as a non-state worker trying to get to Clarksville on a regular basis.)

This is true. The article is written as if these are all new services which made me wonder if they had been eliminated prior, cut back, or maybe if these new routes have different destinations. It's great to add a new trip, but it's still barebones as it gets

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5 minutes ago, AsianintheNations said:

The responses on hubNashville crosswalk requests are infuriating!

I requested a crosswalk across Centennial Blvd at Silo Bend and got the response that they couldn't do that because there weren't ADA compliant sidewalks on either end. I think I can count the number of crosswalks that connect ADA-compliant sidewalks in this city on one hand. The kicker is ... they DID end up painting this crosswalk a year later ... and THIS is what it connects to:

image.thumb.png.25a991631d9f36018ca0978a58c96bcd.png

That photo made me laugh, but that is just straight up dysfunction... wow... does anyone in that department know what they're doing?

Edited by BnaBreaker
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