Nashville Bits and Pieces

[PruneTracy]

They were a fad when I as put in charge of the State's Traffic Design Office some years ago. I developed a policy practice of discouraging them whenever requested. The most compelling, non-safety related issue being that they were not maintained well by the local government. If the 'strobe' quits working and an accident occurs, some serious liability could result.

 

Having worked on many TDOT projects involving signals, beacons, or other such devices, I'm always surprised at how willing, even eager, they are to use these over alternatives such as roundabouts, given the agency's policy of leaving the maintenance of these devices to locals, even on state roads. I suppose it's due to the federal funding for those types of fixes, as well as the disconnect between those who specify it and those who maintain them afterwards. In any case, it does seem like momentum is building towards other solutions.

 

Oh..., OK.

 

Jocular attempts at self-promotion aside, roundabouts really are generally better than signals and, the bane of my existence, four-way stops.

 

What's the threshold for this?

I ask because your rationale above makes sense for many areas that may not have the higher levels of pedestrian traffic, or have exceptionally wide streets to cross. For example, perhaps something like 21st and West End.

On the flipside, I think of the intersection of 11th and 12th Ave S in the heart of the Gulch. This is probably the most highly-trafficked, signalized intersection in the Gulch from a pedestrian perspective. And the streets are relatively narrow, which would necessitate relatively shorter pedestrian crossing times. Yet it's not an automatic "walk" signal.

Would be great to know what the actual rule is. Any slight change that would make areas like the Gulch and the downtown core more pedestrian-friendly would, in my mind, be a welcome change. Small modifications that are pro-pedestrian can have large effects in terms of activating neighborhoods and streetscapes.

An unsolicited opinion. There isn't really a hard-and-fast rule, it's just a design consideration that tends to get thrown out or omitted altogether as an artifact of our auto-centric thinking. Signal timings are very fickle and on high-volume roadways you're trying to squeeze every second of delay out of the plan to keep it out of LOS "F" for vehicles. So pedestrian considerations go on the back burner.

 

In this case it's also its being a T-intersection (where traffic from 12th covers up all of the crosswalks). You can put up "Turning Vehicles Yield to Pedestrians" signs but it's hard to get drivers to pay attention beyond the green arrows on the signal, and you definitely don't want to show a walk signal while a conflicting vehicle movement has a green signal. So (unfortunately) the pedestrian accommodation gets the boot.

 

One way to fix it, at the cost of sending every vehicle occupant into fits, would be to add a pedestrian scramble phase (holding all vehicles) to the cycle. The crosswalk lengths on 11th and 12th range between 36 and 48 feet, which translates to between 9 to 12 seconds of walk time. I don't know what the volume of that intersection is, but I'm guessing it's not high enough where this would break it, especially since it's a T-intersection (which cuts down on the phases).

[rookzie]

 

Having worked on many TDOT projects involving signals, beacons, or other such devices, I'm always surprised at how willing, even eager, they are to use these over alternatives such as roundabouts, given the agency's policy of leaving the maintenance of these devices to locals, even on state roads. I suppose it's due to the federal funding for those types of fixes, as well as the disconnect between those who specify it and those who maintain them afterwards. In any case, it does seem like momentum is building towards other solutions.

 

Jocular attempts at self-promotion aside, roundabouts really are generally better than signals and, the bane of my existence, four-way stops.

An unsolicited opinion. There isn't really a hard-and-fast rule, it's just a design consideration that tends to get thrown out or omitted altogether as an artifact of our auto-centric thinking. Signal timings are very fickle and on high-volume roadways you're trying to squeeze every second of delay out of the plan to keep it out of LOS "F" for vehicles. So pedestrian considerations go on the back burner.

 

In this case it's also its being a T-intersection (where traffic from 12th covers up all of the crosswalks). You can put up "Turning Vehicles Yield to Pedestrians" signs but it's hard to get drivers to pay attention beyond the green arrows on the signal, and you definitely don't want to show a walk signal while a conflicting vehicle movement has a green signal. So (unfortunately) the pedestrian accommodation gets the boot.

 

One way to fix it, at the cost of sending every vehicle occupant into fits, would be to add a pedestrian scramble phase (holding all vehicles) to the cycle. The crosswalk lengths on 11th and 12th range between 36 and 48 feet, which translates to between 9 to 12 seconds of walk time. I don't know what the volume of that intersection is, but I'm guessing it's not high enough where this would break it, especially since it's a T-intersection (which cuts down on the phases).

 

Thanks for the insight on that banshee intersection, which now moves the in- and outbound  Nº17 MTA route away from the 12th side and to the 11th side (with the Green Circuit remaining as is).  I know the Tee beats the old way it was with the slant split (as it also had been with 8th and Delta once upon a time).  It will continue to problematically worsen, though, so heaven forbid that they ever decide to put a light-rail or streetcar down the gulch (hopefully not).

-==-

Edited April 21, 2015 by rookzie

[Neigeville2]

...

 

One way to fix it, at the cost of sending every vehicle occupant into fits, would be to add a pedestrian scramble phase (holding all vehicles) to the cycle. The crosswalk lengths on 11th and 12th range between 36 and 48 feet, which translates to between 9 to 12 seconds of walk time. I don't know what the volume of that intersection is, but I'm guessing it's not high enough where this would break it, especially since it's a T-intersection (which cuts down on the phases).

 

Tokyo seems to have gone whole hog for this concept.   I would think Broadway in the evenings would be prime for this, although once the pedestrians had taken over the intersection they might not give it back...

[NashvilleTaylor]

Tokyo seems to have gone whole hog for this concept.   I would think Broadway in the evenings would be prime for this, although once the pedestrians had taken over the intersection they might not give it back...

 

Exactly.  With no enforcement that could turn into a nightmare for drivers.  I think Broadway should be closed off on Friday nights and throughout Saturday and Sunday.  I think they should open 6th back up between Broadway and Commerce.

[titanhog]

Tokyo seems to have gone whole hog for this concept.   I would think Broadway in the evenings would be prime for this, although once the pedestrians had taken over the intersection they might not give it back...

...and have a really ominous voice countdown the last 5 seconds of the "scramble" phase over a loud speaker with large, red numbers counting down on the "walk-light" to give pedestrians the idea that once their time is up, the cars are off to the races.

[smeagolsfree]

Cool video made in and about Nashville.

http://globalflare.com/this-stunning-video-of-nashville-will-make-everyone-want-to-move-here/

[PruneTracy]

Tokyo seems to have gone whole hog for this concept.   I would think Broadway in the evenings would be prime for this, although once the pedestrians had taken over the intersection they might not give it back...

 

UT previously used a scramble phase at Andy Holt Avenue and Volunteer Boulevard (Andy Holt has been completely closed off now, which I guess makes it a midblock crossing). I would say that it caused students to linger past the end of the phase, but let's be honest, it's pedestrian anarchy up there regardless of what you do.

[titanhog]

Hardee's thinking about moving their HQ here.

 

http://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2015/04/22/hardees-scouts-nashville-headquarters/26219127/

[fieldmarshaldj]

^A soaring 75-story Hardee's HQ would look nice downtown. They can put a giant rotating burger at the top of the tower.

Edited April 23, 2015 by fieldmarshaldj

[titanhog]

^A soaring 75-story Hardee's HQ would look nice downtown. They can put a giant rotating burger at the top of the tower.

[donNdonelson2]

I wonder how tall the Hardee's "Thickburger" 75 floor tower would be...each floor might be really thick, eh?

[rookzie]

Phat.

 

-==-

[smeagolsfree]

If they move here, then I expect only a double thick burger as they only occupy two floors of a downtown office building in St Louis.

[nashmoney]

This may have some serious traction. It would be cool to add another fast food/casual dining headquarters to the city. The metro area already has O'Charleys, Cracker Barrell, Logans, Shoneys, Captain D's, GiGi's, Backyard Burgers, Stoney River, and J Alexanders

 

Here is the article from the St. Louis paper

 

http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/hardee-s-considers-moving-headquarters-from-st-louis/article_0d76958a-db17-5ad4-91c6-6bfd751c3bb3.html

 

From Article:

Hardee’s occupies about 50,000 square feet at 100 North Broadway, which was known as the Bank of America Tower before the bank relocated its offices from the building. David Kelpe, a senior vice president of commercial real estate firm DTZ, said the building remained about 67 percent occupied. Hertz Broadway Tower LLC, of Santa Monica, Calif., owns the building, which opened in 1974.

 

There is definitely not 50k sq ft avail in the core or midtown that I know of. They would definitely have to go in a new building if looking to stay in the city. I'm sure their are some large spec buildings being built in CoolSprings that may fit their needs, but I would love to see them in DT or MT.

 

Here is the tower they currently occupy in St. Louis.

Edited April 23, 2015 by nashmoney

[Hey_Hey]

I would think they would look in DT/Sobro/Gulch. They are located in DT St Louis, and if they haven't bolted from DT STL I wouldnt think they'd do it here either. Their lease is up in 2017, which is likely too soon for the JWM/office project, the convention center and the building between 1st and 2nd in Sobro. Eakin's tower may be the only new construction project that would fit. For existing construction there are still some large chunks available in UBS Tower and the L&C tower aren't there?

[MidTenn1]

^A soaring 75-story Hardee's HQ would look nice downtown. They can put a giant rotating burger at the top of the tower.

 

Which would fit in nicely with the giant tire on top of the Bridgestone Building in SoBro!

[UTgrad09]

 

I would think they would look in DT/Sobro/Gulch. They are located in DT St Louis, and if they haven't bolted from DT STL I wouldnt think they'd do it here either. Their lease is up in 2017, which is likely too soon for the JWM/office project, the convention center and the building between 1st and 2nd in Sobro. Eakin's tower may be the only new construction project that would fit. For existing construction there are still some large chunks available in UBS Tower and the L&C tower aren't there?

 

Hardee's isn't afraid of clogged arteries, so I wouldn't be surprised if they moved downtown, either.

[titanhog]

I noticed the other day that Blue Belle Ice Cream recalled all of its products because of Listeria (hope I spelled that right)...and now Jeni's Ice Cream Shops have closed all of their locations (including Nashville) because they've tested positive for Listeria.

 

So, I'm wondering, does all of the ice cream really come from the same place?  Or the milk, at least?  Just wondering how two different companies can have the same issues at the same time.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/blog/2015/04/jenis-recalling-entire-product-line.html

[nashvillwill]

I ate Jeni's Wednesday night. Saw that news release Thursday morning.

[TheRaglander]

Digging through and having a hard time finding the info... but can someone tell me what is going in right next to the Beaman dealership? By the GMC service area. Thanks.

[nashmoney]

Alaska grows Seattle hub with nonstop service to Charleston, Nashville and Raleigh/Durham

 

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/alaska-grows-seattle-hub-with-nonstop-service-to-charleston-nashville-and-raleighdurham-2015-04-28

 

Summary of new service:

Start date

City pair

Departs

Arrives

Frequency

Sept 23

Seattle-Nashville

9:30 a.m.

4:05 p.m.

Daily

Sept 23

Nashville-Seattle

5:05 p.m.

8:20 p.m.

Daily

[Hey_Hey]

I believe this will be the first nonstop flight to Seattle. Southwest offers a direct flight with one stop but none that are non-stop.  Good news for BNA, and it adds one more competing airline to the mix to help keep fares low.

[smeagolsfree]

Great news to see Alaska Airlines enter the Nashville market too.

[nashvillwill]

Alaskan is a fantastic airline IMO. Very glad to see them here.

[dxfret]

I believe this will be the first nonstop flight to Seattle. Southwest offers a direct flight with one stop but none that are non-stop.  Good news for BNA, and it adds one more competing airline to the mix to help keep fares low.

Not the case, as Southwest Airlines has offered seasonal nonstop flights between BNA and Seattle for several years. The SWA nonstops typicallly run from May to October and benefit the many cruises departing from Seattle.