Jump to content

The Transportation and Mass Transit Megathread


TopTenn

Recommended Posts


2 hours ago, markhollin said:

The next phase to widen Interstate 40 in eastern Wilson County could also include a redesign for an interchange that services the Wilson County Fair—Tennessee State Fair and other events.

The future widening project is designed to roughly cover 4.7 miles of I-40 from I-840 to just east of Exit 239 that goes to Watertown heading south and the Wilson County Fairgrounds — also known as the James E. Ward Agricultural Center — going north.

Planning studies for the widening project are funded and underway, according to Tennessee Department of Transportation spokesperson Rebekah Hammonds. Design, right-of-way acquisition and construction will still need funding and there isn't a clear timeline for those.

Planning studies have included a review of the Exit 239 interchange for potential improvements and or reconfiguration, Hammonds said.

More at The Tennessean here:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/wilson/2023/03/17/will-future-i-40-widening-in-wilson-county-tennessee-include-interchange-redesign-nashville/70008823007/

I thought this design/build project was already on track for 2026, if not....I won't state my disappointment here.  Anyway, wasn't this widening project supposed to include a tunnel or overpass runway for the flight school's expansion between Hartmann and Cumberland/231 exits?  Maybe with Pody leaning on TDOT, any widening project there will get fasttracked like several other interchange projects have been recently.

Edited by tragenvol
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This project is probably going to include a new interchange at Payton Road , just East of the Fairgrounds. The upcoming Lebanon City Council meeting ( 3-21-23) will have this item on the agenda. Also believe this will be a fast tracked project, infrastructure was a very important issue during the negotiations to bring the fair to Lebanon. Line item number 6 under new business, and the updated Major Thoroughfare Map kinda explains the route they are taking . Will allow for new parking lots and access to rear of Fairgrounds 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, markhollin said:

The Tennessee Senate on Monday green lit a transportation plan backed by Gov. Bill Lee that would funnel more than $3 billion into infrastructure projects in the state.

If the plan is given final passage, each of the Tennessee Department of Transportation's four regions would receive $750 million to cover infrastructure issues.

Though some opponents of the plan have criticized the distribution by region, arguing the equal pots of money should be distributed on a per capita basis to account for higher populations and related congestion issues, the legislation received largely bipartisan votes through the committee process this year.

Senators voted 26-5 for the plan, with a mix of Republicans and Democrats opposed to the measure.

The bill institutes new electric vehicles fees to offset lost gas taxes, to be paid with vehicle registrations, that would start at $200 until 2027 and then rise to $274. The statute could adjust the fee to match inflation thereafter.

Lee's plan also calls for "public-private partnership" to establish toll lanes, or what Lee's administration calls "choice lanes," which would be express lanes that charge drivers usage fees. Sen. Becky Massey, R-Knoxville, argued the choice lanes are different than toll roads as a driver will have an option to pay for an express lane or drive on an existing lane for free.

"It is similar to TSA Pre-check or Disney Fast Pass where you can decide if you want to do it or not," Massey said. "Fees are never charged in a general purpose lanes and the number of free lanes are never reduced."


More at The Tennessean here:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2023/03/20/tennessee-senate-passes-governors-3-billion-transportation-plan/70029058007/

wasting-money-toilet.gif

  • Like 4
  • Confused 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

53 minutes ago, PaulChinetti said:

If anything gets elevated I’d want it to be rail. 

I think those declining ridership stats posted above indicate that, absent some major disruption in society, we won't be seeing any rail-based mass transit in Nashville within our lifetimes.  If you want to know why this is the case, just ask yourself this question:  Why have so many recent corporate relocations to the Nashville region chosen to put their offices in Cool Springs instead of downtown Nashville?  When you have the answer to that question, then you will know why Nashville will never achieve the density and/or tax base to support rail transit.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, Armacing said:

I think those declining ridership stats posted above indicate that, absent some major disruption in society, we won't be seeing any rail-based mass transit in Nashville within our lifetimes.  If you want to know why this is the case, just ask yourself this question:  Why have so many recent corporate relocations to the Nashville region chosen to put their offices in Cool Springs instead of downtown Nashville?  When you have the answer to that question, then you will know why Nashville will never achieve the density and/or tax base to support rail transit.

Every major city in the US has suburban office parks. 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

https://www.lightrailnow.org/myths/m_monorail001.htm#:~:text=in regard to monorail systems,claims of many monorail promoters.

 

In regard to monorail systems, it can be seen that, with an average capital cost of nearly $140 million per mile, and with some individual systems exceeding $200 million per mile, these examples of monorail systems do not seem to corroborate the low-cost claims of many monorail promoters

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/22/2023 at 7:59 AM, nashmoney said:

I always thought Nashville and the state would benefit greatly with developing elevated reverse express lanes on Ellington Parkway in the Grassy median. My proposal would be no local exits, just a straight shot from the downtown loop to briley Parkway and 65 N and reverse. This would help alleviate a lot of the traffic going through 65/40 split and the 24/65 split. From my experience, a lot of the traffic during rush hour on Ellington Parkway is from people commuting from Madison and the northern suburbs to downtown. 

It blows my mind that Ellington Parkway is not 3 lanes in both directions.

Tampa has elevated reverse espress lanes above the Selmon expressway, which is a toll road, and a portion of it is elevated above street level as well. 

 

data=ZvOh3O9-S0oVYpHV4zCD2HTIQDEZvAVp7F_QvGh9_Qct7c5j_x47RY_VlFmL1eDyGwK-nnZIKbRluYFfME595bnGkpDD5-UHNqyF3...p6U7Jrtgg7Ny0Erp9JDtIczJEC9Aa6IZmOK1jhXJ1psJnSD5m2W4tcwp2Ih8PEzeBXOiQa1zr8i0H3rjmF7y4bhkqS3XW-I9eXequcmhQZ_1JGaSwP-7VXQAQH.png

R3_034.flv.png

Selmon expressway elevated express lanes 

download.jpeg

Reverse express lanes - no local exits - Selmon expressway 

613185-M.jpg

The outbound part in the evening would be incredibly beneficial to Nashville (though getting onto northbound express lanes would be easier if those lanes were on the interstate instead of in East).

The inbound portion in the morning would need a total reimagining of the loop-de-loops and spaghetti junction at the end of Ellington - the backup comes from stoplights at the end of each of the three exits off Ellington (Spring St & Dickerson / Spring St & Main St / James Robertson & Interstate Dr).

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.