Project Nashville: Will new TDOT projects relieve high traffic volumes in Nashville?

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — Residents and visitors alike can feel the struggle of Nashville traffic. But for people who live and work here every day, it seems insurmountable.

Commutes that typically took 20 to 30 minutes are now doubled, even tripled in some cases. Drivers like Dennis Hickey of Murfreesboro feel it every day.

“There’s really no easy route from where I am at to get here [to Nashville],” Hickey said.

It’s why FOX 17 News is continuing to examine the traffic solutions in place right now through Project Nashville. It’s the station’s commitment to navigating the growth of Music City with you, how it’s really impacting you and what are our elected officials doing to protect the quality of life in the new “It” city.

Hickey, originally from New York, knows traffic troubles well. He moved here in 1997 and has seen the city grow beyond its limits.

“I have to make that decision [every day] whether or not I’m getting on I-24,” he says. That’s because traffic has increased 60 percent along his route since 2005, according to TDOT. He’s been making this drive for more than two decades as he makes his way to his job at Sprintz Furniture.

“All it takes is one incident and that can turn into an hour and a half or more. Then finding the detours to get here, it’s a lot,” Hickey says.

TDOT knows the I-24 corridor has reached its limits. However, the agency cannot widen the roadway further.

“So we’re looking to extend exit ramps and entrance ramps so when you’re getting off, you’re not having to slow down all the main line traffic,” says Region 3 TDOT spokeswoman Kathryn Schulte.

It’s called the Smart Corridor project. TDOT will be improving signals along parallel corridors like Murfreesboro Road. The idea is to keep things moving so even if there’s a crash and you’re diverted, the signals can keep up with that extra traffic volume.

“It’s a great example of taking existing infrastructure and incorporating technology to improve the reliability of the travel time on that corridor,” says Deputy Director of the Greater Nashville Regional Council, Michelle Lacewell.

The Smart Corridor project will cover 28 miles along I-24 from I-440 in Nashville to US 231 in Murfreesboro. State Route 1 will be an alternate.

Speaking of traffic volume, TDOT says an ongoing project in the Antioch area will relieve congestion around Bell Road, This is the Hickory Hollow Parkway Interchange project.

It will be a crisscross interchange, called a diverging diamond. The goal is to have high volumes of traffic move through an area quickly. TDOT says it will relieve backups on Bell Road and give drivers a chance to get to the Cane Ridge area from the interstate.

Drivers going from one side of the interchange will go through a traffic light, cross over the opposite side of the road before heading back over to the original travel pattern.

“It’s just going to really help the development because right now that part of town is just booming,” Schulte says, noting other development in this area.

FOX 17 News has confirmed the real estate company behind the popular Tanger Outlets is moving in, after purchasing the Century Farms land off Hickory Hollow Parkway.

The Hickory Hollow Parkway Interchange project is ongoing and costs roughly $30.5 million. It will be complete in two years.