Nothing unites Old Nashville more than complaining about traffic. They say you could get anywhere in the city in 12 minutes a decade ago; five years ago, it was anywhere in 15 minutes. Anecdotal congestion metrics are a perfect proxy for people who want to point out the practical pains of Nashville’s population boom. Traffic is easy to point to — universally frustrating and clearly caused by too many people vying for too little space, a problem of planning and infrastructure as well as rapid growth.
If bad traffic is a symbol for an overcrowded city, routine backups from the airport onto I-40 are the city’s symbol for bad traffic. Highly visible congestion (including eyewitness accounts of anxious drop-offs rolling luggage on the side of the interstate) has put an exclamation point on Nashville’s worst drawback: We’re too popular for our own good, and locals pay for it. State lawmakers thrust the Metro Nashville Airport Authority into the spotlight last year with a bid to vacate and reconstitute its board. (In November, the courts ruled Tennessee’s effort unconstitutional, restoring power to Nashville’s mayor-appointed MNAA.) The airport is in the middle of a billion-dollar overhaul to accommodate expanding national and international service and an ever-increasing number of travelers.
The traffic remains a sore spot. In December, Mayor Freddie O’Connell brought in BNA CEO Doug Kreulen to explain the airport’s backup reduction plans. Kreulen told reporters that BNA has a 17-point strategy to “mitigate roadway congestion,” including measures like free garage access for stays less than 30 minutes and moving rideshare pickup. Most of the changes — like garage access and an additional ingress lane from the highway to the terminal — enable BNA to pack more cars on its property, theoretically taking them off the highway. Actually increasing throughput rests on the difficult problem of expanding access points to the terminal, allowing more passengers to get in and out faster.
Kreulen also pointed to the 22 buses that run through the airport every day. In order to take cars off the road, it’s necessary to actually take cars off the road. “The garage, the fifth floor, has been stiffened to the tune of $5 million to receive two inbound-outbound light rail trains,” Kreulen said. “As we head to a new initiative, we’re waiting for that, so that we can plan the other future structures to leave a path for that to arrive and depart.”
Watch for O’Connell’s expected transportation plan to start with airport traffic. It has the need, infrastructure and buy-in, and would be a very public win for O’Connell on a signature issue and a proof of concept for bus rapid transit or direct light rail — two possible paths for taking cars off the interstate.
From housing and transportation to development of the East Bank, here are 11 stories to keep an eye on this year
