[UrbanPlanet Downtown Bike Tour]

Once the weather warms up in spring, would anyone be interested in a bike ride around downtown to look at proposed/under construction projects? I'm very familiar with biking in Nashville and often give tours this way, as I'm sure others on here do too, but this would be open to all skill levels of riding.
Below is a basic route that covers several projects around downtown as well as cruising through older, less active parts of downtown for fun. It's about 10 miles and very frequently uses protected bike lanes or greenways. If this happened I'm thinking we could start at the farmer's market, where people could rent a B-Cycle if needed (they have e-bikes available too).
If anyone's interested, let me know what you think or which projects you'd like to ride by. 
 
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I’m a long time — like for years! - reader of this forum. I have posted a handful of comments over 10 years, but that’s it. But I would legitimately love to do a bike tour of project sites with someone who really knows what he’s talking about. I will definitely do this if there’s any way I can.

[Inner Loop - CBD, Downtown, East Bank, Germantown, Gulch, Rutledge]

I couldn't agree more.  Well said.  I understand where Mr. Turner is coming from, and I think some of his critiques are well-founded, as you touched on titanhog.  There is certainly more that could and should be done to contain the noise and chaos to that five-ish block area.  However, I think he is way off base when he argues that the bars only benefit themselves and are nothing but a nuisance to anyone but out of town tourists.  As you stated, it could absolutely be argued that Nashville wouldn't be the internationally known boom town it is today without those honky tonks.  It would be growing certainly, but it certainly wouldn't be the superstar city it is today.  That growth and notoriety provided by Lower Broad is something that has profound and lasting benefits to the city as a whole, and we shouldn't be so quick to roll our eyes and write it off.   I'm also not entirely sure where he gets this idea that an area like Lower Broad where there is a high concentration of bars is some kind of anomaly.  Most big cities have something of a 'nightlife district.'  

I agree with this too. The honky tonks and associated business helped build the tourist industry we now have, and that contributes tremendously to the economy.

But I would add that I work in the Truist (formerly SunTrust) building. The positives are that I love the vitality that the tourism sector brings. I love the energy of all the people on the streets. I love the amenities that their presence generates, like the 5&B Food Hall. But the noise is a problem during the business day sometimes. It is difficult to get in and out of the parking garage sometimes to run a simple errand, like get to a parent teacher meeting at school. And the sidewalks and streets just smell bad lots of the time. Many colleagues in the building want our office to move a few blocks out of the central district at the next renewal time. I hope we don’t, because I like the crowds and energy.

I think there are some things the the city should do to improve the area and help ensure a sustainable work/play/live ecosystem, so that it doesn’t devolve into ONLY play —

(1) Invest in regular/continuous pressure washing of the sidewalks and streets. They stink from the odor of vomit, beer, and garbage. Regular washing could go a long, long way to making the experience of walking the sidewalks better.

(2) More frequent garbage collection/clean up.

(3) Increased visible police presence throughout the honky took district. Nothing heavy handed, just visible and continuous. Have an officer in a yellow vest standing at the corner. Have them walking the beat regularly. More of those downtown Ambassadors on patrol.

(4) Enforce reasonable noise restrictions prior to 6pm. Make it feasible for businesses to remain in the buildings along that core. (Not to mention the kids in school at Hume Fogg.)

[James K. Polk Building/site lease from State]

That site on the mall would be a good location. Downtown, but not in the craziness of lower broad. Could be convenient to germantown restaurants, etc. Helps build a museum/cultural theme around bicentennial mall.

Isn’t that current structure a data infrastructure center for the state. And don’t I remember from somewhere in the past that the state was considering relocating that infrastructure perhaps to an offsite data center?

[James K. Polk Building/site lease from State]

Is there space along the bicentennial mall?

[More Accolades for Nashville]

If you ask Birmingham, Nashville is mid South. If you ask Indianapolis, Nashville is deep South. It’s all in the perspective.

I’m sure there is some semi-official definition somewhere, but I always considered the Deep South as South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. I wonder if it would be historically accurate, but I wouldn’t consider Florida to be included. And I would think of North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas as the mid-south. Just one person’s perspective … Curious if there is some official definition somewhere.

[The Transportation and Mass Transit Megathread]

I agree that Nashville could do way better on making roadways safer for cyclists. But there are some of us who make the best of what we have. I live in West Meade, and I regularly commute by bike down to my office in the Truist building. From West Meade, I take the bike lane on post road to White Bridge. I can cross at the traffic light there and hop on the Richland Creek greenway over to Sylvan Park. Neighborhood streets through Sylvan Park connect me to the I-440 greenway, which runs along the 440 right of way and then underneath to pop out right at the north end of Centennial Park by HCA. From there, I take Patterson through the Medical Center area, so these are low volume roads as well. I do have to pop up onto Church for about three blocks to cross I-40 by the NES building. Those couple of blocks are the hard part — the only real heavy traffic/cycle unfriendly few minutes of my whole trip. Once I get across 40, there’s a bike lane along Church. Then I can get over to the bike lane on Commerce and I’m good. I do worry about traffic a bit, and I really wish the city could do something to make the crossing over 40 safer. But otherwise I can get all the way from West Meade to the CBD on a pretty pleasant route. I’m grateful for the Richland Creek greenway, which lets me avoid having to get on Harding/ West End.

[The Transportation and Mass Transit Megathread]

Last night while heading to downtown Nashville from Murfreesboro, I see that the "smart corridor panels" are finally up. I'm still skeptical, but lets see how "efficient" it really is. 

What are these?

[Nashville Yards, 15 acres/4 million sq. ft./ $1 billion, Phase I: Grand Hyatt Hotel (25 stories), Phase II: Amazon (26 & 22 stories), Phase III: AEG District (4 K theater, 34 & 35 story apts); Phase IV: Pinnacle Tower (35 stories), Amazon 3 (43)]

I may have missed it having been offline for several weeks. Does this project involve some sort of rebuild of the church st viaduct? The image in the renders looks wider to me than the current state.

[Nashville International Airport Development thread]

From B concourse.

[Nashville Bits and Pieces]

Gotta say … watching the NYE telecast from out of town with family, this was absolutely spectacular advertising for Nashville.

[BROADWEST (former West End Summit), 36 story Conrad Hilton Hotel/condo tower, 22 story/510,000 sq. ft. office tower, 4 story/125,000 sq. ft. retail/office, 1 acre plaza, 2,500 car garage, $490 million]

Sounds like this is a validation of nonstop air connections from BNA as well.

[Reed District: 8 towers ranging from 8 to 44 stories (500'?), 1.5 million sq. ft. office space; 1,000 residential units; 150K sq. ft. retail space; 250 room hotel on 12 acres at NE corner of Broadway and 16th Ave. North]

Beating a dead horse probably, but a cover over the interstate from Demonbreun to Church would be so impactful.

[Greer Stadium site/Fort Negley expansion/redevelopment]

This would really be a great idea if it could be combined with a dramatic upgrade of ASC. It really underperforms for this market I think. Ideal solution might be to relocate ASC to the Bicentennial Mall area (if there is space). Build a new state of the art science museum there. And convert the current bldg to some use aligned with the Ft Negly site.

[The Sinclair, 27 stories, 315', 334 residential units; 31,500 sq. ft. retail; 13,040 sq. ft. restaurant; underground garage]

I drive down West End every morning on the way to work. I was thinking other day how much has changed since I moved to town in 2010. I used to be able to see Batman Bldg from Vandy. Alignment of the road made it look from there like Batman was the terminus of the street. Now, w/ all the developments in between, you can’t even see it from the vantage point of West End around 23rd. So much change!

[PRIME/801 Church St. (38 stories, 456', 358 units, 2,654 sq. ft. retail, 511 capacity garage)]

I’m in San Francisco today. I looked out the window of a conference room and spotted a building that seemed similar to this project.

[Vanderbilt University Tower and West End Dorms, 20 stories/6 stories, 340 units]

The lighting at night is spectacular. I love this project.

[Amazon: The Thread | 5,000 Jobs | 1M SQFT in Nashville Yards]

I cycle to work regularly right down Elliston and Church. Although there is a bike lane on church down to 40, there’s a choke point at 40 that is hard to navigate. The notion of incentivizing employees to cycle regularly would be enhanced if there was a dedicated bike lane all the way down Elliston to Centennial. This would connect Amazon via a safe bike route to The Nations, Sylvan Park (via 440 greenway), Richland West End, and all the neighborhoods that are connected by the Richland Creek Greenway around McAbe Park. In the other direction, the Commerce bike lane is a good start. But it needs maintenance. And it needs connections to the pedestrian bridge (you can already get from the pedestrian bridge all the way to Shelby Bottoms in a pretty protected bike lane). I haven’t explored how to get from Amazon to Germantown via bike but that would seem another opportunity to connect.

[Parke West, 3415 Murphy, 15 story residential (210 units), 9 story dual brand hotel, 19,000 sq. ft. of retail, underground garage]

Why “Parke West”? Is there something wrong with “Park West”?

[Nashville International Airport PHOTOS (BNA), Airlines and Flights General discussion]

Heard from a speech by Butch Spyridon this week that by (some date he mentioned but don’t recall) BNA expects more daily flights than pre-pandemic. Also that BA expected to return sometime in July and that leftover incentive funds are being utilized to facilitate re-start of the flight.

[North Gulch Gateway, (Tennessean site) Phase II: Gulch Central (41 story residential/hotel, 28 story office, 6 story mixed-use); Phase I: Asurion HQ (10 & 11 stories)]

Does anyone know about plans for the Church-Elliston Corridor? I thought I remembered some notion of enhancements accompanying the Amazon development. I ride my bike to work sometimes from West Meade to work in the CBD. I can get most of the way using the Music City Bikeway, Richland Creek Greenway, neighborhood streets in Sylvan Park, 440 Greenway to Centennial, and Patterson through the Medical Center. Then the bike lane on Church starting at the NES building. ... But there’s a choke point where you have to cross the interstate at 40 and are in heavy traffic for a couple of blocks there. I would love to see some kind of dedicated bike lane from Church all the way out to Centennial Park.

[Inside 440 - Berry Hill, Midtown, Vanderbilt, 12S, WeHo, Fairgrounds, etc.]

Midtown courtesy of Martin B. Cherry of NBJ:
 
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Look at all the opportunity in the foreground.

[Davidson West: Bellevue, Bordeaux, Green Hills, MetroCenter, Nations, N Nashville]

Would that spot work for a traffic circle?

[2010 West End Ave. residential tower, 25 stories, 299 ft., 358 units, 5,500 sq. ft. of retail, 420 capacity garage]

So what is the deal with that pattern up the side of this building?

[W Hotel, 16 stories, 183', 350 rooms]

That midtown ATL isn’t a good comparison. It used to be the Sheraton Colony Square and was built sometime in the 80s. They just painted it dark and called it a W.

[Davidson West: Bellevue, Bordeaux, Green Hills, MetroCenter, Nations, N Nashville]

I think it’s going on  the former Steinmart footprint and the parking lot behind it.  You’re right that it appears to cut off access to the greenway entrance from the Steinmart lot but there is another greenway connection about 50 ft away off the Target loading lot.  
I’m going to edit myself.   I hadn’t studied this rendering, but it shows a new greenway connection will be created that extends the existing one up to the front of the property.  Actually an improvement over the current greenway access point.  

You’re right. Glad that was taken into account. I use that access frequently from the Music City Bikeway aka Post Road.