The Transportation and Mass Transit Megathread

[Baronakim]

22 hours ago, MagicPotato said:

Another tidbit, there's no bridges that connects from East Nashville to Briley. The area east of the Cumberland River is in a need of a few connecting points. The only access points from East Nashville to Briley is the Gallatin Pike S interchange.   The Eastern part of Nashville in general has terrible connecting points with Wilson County, excluding I40 and Lebanon Pike. 

No one WANTS one either.  There is no road suitable to be a good access as the entire area in Inglewood is totally filled out with subdivisions with winding streets.  Porter and Cahal would possibly been good feeder connectors but there would be a fecesstorm taking a bridge across Shelby Bottoms!  You can probably totally forget "a few connecting points" It will never happen.

Edited December 9, 2022 by Baronakim

[Luvemtall]

For sure! Haven forbid Nashville ever look like a big city! Let’s keep it as a old boring looking suburban dysfunctional stuck in the ‘50’s kinda place. We should never let them suggest, that we build bridges and roads to accommodate the phenomenal growth. So many NIMBY’s 

[markhollin]

 You can take a survey on how to improve transportation in downtown Nashville from Connect Downtown:

https://connectdowntownnashville.com/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NASH_12.09.2022_DEC&utm_term=NASHtoday: Subscribers - MASTER
 

[Luvemtall]

^^ all of the above please!^^^

[Bos2Nash]

I greatly appreciate the way this was framed from a cost perspective because it forces the average joe to think about how much these things actually cost. Shows what is the low hanging fruit vs the pie in the sky wants.

[PaulChinetti]

It would be nice to see a road diets mentioned on there. Making neighborhoods more accessible and livable to everyone, seems like it's a nice big win. 

[smeagolsfree]

 

Come on guys, how short is your memory????? Half of this crap has been tried before.  I do not know who came up with this survey, but they must have just moved here.

Buses my rear. There they go again pushing a worthless asset that few use and that is relatively worthless in getting around the city. Another fact is they bring up bikes and scooters when many people do not use that mode of transit. It is not a safe mode of transit. Yes, I am playing devil's advocate here.

This has been influenced by the mayor's office I am sure that has always pushed buses as a last and final resort. The buses do not run often, and they eliminated the downtown circulator which was free. That was the best thing they had going downtown. Why they eliminated it is beyond me. They should have expanded it. That would have solved a lot of the problems they are having issues with downtown. The only issue they had with the circulator was they had it running up and down Demonbreun which ended up being closed half of the time due to events.

They were supposed to have upgraded the traffic signals and said they did it under the Berry administration, and now they are still trying to do it. You can only upgrade so much. When you have so much traffic all the upgrading in the world will not help. They only thing they can do better with the signal's downtown is to dedicate pedestrian only signals for pedestrians with no turning vehicles at more crosswalks and make the timers longer.

They were also supposed to have the deliveries in the mornings for the businesses to create less problems. They have also tried to lessen parking on the streets, but the downtown business owners bitched.

Dedicated lanes! Who are they fooling. We all know where that idea will go.

 

[applebees615]

 
Come on guys, how short is your memory????? Half of this crap has been tried before.  I do not know who came up with this survey, but they must have just moved here.
Buses my rear. There they go again pushing a worthless asset that few use and that is relatively worthless in getting around the city. Another fact is they bring up bikes and scooters when many people do not use that mode of transit. It is not a safe mode of transit. Yes, I am playing devil's advocate here.
This has been influenced by the mayor's office I am sure that has always pushed buses as a last and final resort. The buses do not run often, and they eliminated the downtown circulator which was free. That was the best thing they had going downtown. Why they eliminated it is beyond me. They should have expanded it. That would have solved a lot of the problems they are having issues with downtown. The only issue they had with the circulator was they had it running up and down Demonbreun which ended up being closed half of the time due to events.
They were supposed to have upgraded the traffic signals and said they did it under the Berry administration, and now they are still trying to do it. You can only upgrade so much. When you have so much traffic all the upgrading in the world will not help. They only thing they can do better with the signal's downtown is to dedicate pedestrian only signals for pedestrians with no turning vehicles at more crosswalks and make the timers longer.
They were also supposed to have the deliveries in the mornings for the businesses to create less problems. They have also tried to lessen parking on the streets, but the downtown business owners beotched.
Dedicated lanes! Who are they fooling. We all know where that idea will go.
 

Completely agree with you. Am I alone in the opinion they should be focusing more on connectivity throughout the city relative to bud lanes that will only create traffic. The connectivity through Nashville is horrid with the train tracks and interstate creating barriers and segregation. I would love to see more things like the bridge connecting the 805 Lea area to pine street, and connecting CA South’s project to paseo south gulch. I also think a dedicated greenway alongside the railroad to wedgewood Houston would be a desirable asset and could allow more mobility throughout the city. Pietown will especially need better connectivity to the gulch for residents to be able to live there and walk to work.


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[GregH]

4 hours ago, smeagolsfree said:

 

Come on guys, how short is your memory????? Half of this crap has been tried before.  I do not know who came up with this survey, but they must have just moved here.

 

It's hard to get more "this crap has been tried before" than persisting with car-centric design in a dense area. You can either continue to sit in increasingly bad car traffic or try something more space-efficient. There is no magic bullet to make  individual car use work smoothly in a city, someone would have figured it out in the last 100 years and gotten a Nobel prize or whatever.

[Bos2Nash]

I wanted to go through and put some thoughts down about all the "improvements" laid out. I know some have been beat to death, but I think there are some goods and many bads in this plan.

1) Wedgewood Double Roundabout - I don't mind the double roundabout plan. Because this is a TDOT plan though, I would rather see some creativity for a single, larger roundabout that would involve rebuilding the bridge rather than taking more and more land for the interstate. Additionally, the flyover bridge to connect to Fort Negley Road is preposterous and should not be done. That road connection should be funneled through the roundabout entirely. This is an example of where leadership is saying they want to minimize maintenance cost, but at the same time they are adding to additional maintenance. The signage also MUST be better than the KVB roundabout because people have no idea how to drive through that two lane roundabout and I would not expect any driver improvement here.

2)  Charlotte at White Bridge, Gallatin Pike at Due West Ave, Granny White Pike at Harding Place, Lebanon Pike at Old Hickory Blvd, Nolensville Pike at Thompson Lane - The addition of slip lanes (the one below is Granny White and Charlotte) is ridiculous and only makes these intersections that much harder to navigate for pedestrians. While many of these areas may not be very pedestrian friendly now, by dedicating this kind of space to cars, it will be impossible to reclaim down the road as the development of the city moves outward (because it will ultimately move outward this far). Slip lanes like the ones shown below are just not good urban practice. Even at the angle shown below means that a vehicle should go slower and wider around the corners (especially seeing as they have 3 freaking lanes to make the turn).

3) Lebanon Pike at Old Hickory Blvd, Nolensville Pike at Thompson Lane, White Bridge Pike/Woodmont at Harding Pike Overpass Intersections - Nope Nope Nope. Just a big f****** NOPE! Again, if we are trying to reduce maintenance costs, why on earth would we propose additional maintenance cost items? Boston went through a process to remove one of these starting back in 2015 and it took until 2018 to remove fully and reintegrate the neighborhood. The Casey Overpass was actually simplier because it was just a viaduct and not an intersection with signalization. Signalizing only makes things that much more expensive to maintain and also remove down the road.

4) Old Hickory Blvd at I-65, Thompson Lane/Briley Parkway at I-24, W Trinity Lane at I-65, Highway interchanges - The DDI at Thompson/Briley is solid. The one at Old Hickory is a big ole WTF. Like why maintain partial cloverleaf? Again, many of those angles would just promote slower turning speeds.  W Trinity Lane needs to be re-done and looking at the plan it is a much needed improvement. The one thing I would want to see is the elimination of the ramp spur that connects directly to Brick Church Pike

YAY!

BOO! There is also no need for a direct connection from Frierson Street in the bottom right corner of the image

5) I like the reconfiguring of the I-24/I-440/I-40 ramps. It's a little confusing, but it seems like we are reducing/simplifying the highway access which will help.

6) I-40 Inner Loop - What in the actual f*** is this? We already have a C/D road built in George L Davis and 14th Ave. Sure, they are eliminating a couple ramps (not nearly enough IMHO) only to add this supposed C/D that does the exact same thing. This is telling us we need to expand the highway, plus another lane to expediate exiting? WHY?!? Let the surface road that they are widening to FOUR FREAKING LANES (it should be two lanes each way) serve as the C/D and then have access at Demonbreun and Charlotte. This is an absolute slap in the face to Nashville by the State driving up a stupid car-centric ideal that we are working hard to even out with pedestrians and other modes. So infuriating!

For example, the Demonbreun interstate bridge is already hard enough to get across outside of a car. This "improvement" just makes it that much worse!

6) I-24/I-65 Inner Loop - Clearly TDOT did not even consider the East Bank Vision Plan for the western portion of the interstate. They have pushed the supposed C/D linework further into the city to take more land for the state. Added interchanges almost at will. Similar to the I-40 Inner Loop, the C/D should have access at Spring Street and then at Shelby. Simple, clean and easy. Instead they continue to create a giant tangle of s***! 

Not sure I understand the desire for braid ramps, but again this is creating more maintenance costs due to flyover ramps. I do appreciate the of the highway access at Lafayette, but that will only go to isolate the highway as a barrier even more.

Looking at this image, it appears that the braid ramps will just create an even bigger divide between downtown and points south

This is just dumb because there is plenty of space to get your lane situated prior to the split

The northern connection has always been a pinch point and does need improvement, again though, I don't buy that the braid ramps are necessary. Unless they are going to reduce the footprint of the highway, they will the exact same thing as the current setup has. The piece that is most intriguing is the re-alignment of Vashti to connect over to Baptist World Center 

Interesting that the state is showing something they don't have control over, maybe this is part of the Oracle package, who knows.

[GregH]

9 minutes ago, Bos2Nash said:

Additionally, the flyover bridge to connect to Fort Negley Road is preposterous and should not be done.

That was my first thought too. Was anyone even asking for that??

[smeagolsfree]

Just did a long drive from Nashville to Homestead via Miami, Ft Lauderdale, Orlando, Jacksonville, Atlanta, and back through Montgomery & Birmingham. To see the interstates going through the heart of some of these cities, I will say Nashville has as we all know seen zero improvements around the core. When I go on a trip, I drive 99% of the time and do notice things like express lanes, new road construction, toll lanes, etc. I will say Nashville lags well behind just about, if not all other major US cities with the interstate design around downtown. I have driven in or around every large US city east of the Rockies with exception of Detroit. There is only one I have not driven around the core and that is Minneapolis.

You can fix interchanges all day long but until you take a look at the basic road design and figure out how to reroute traffic outside the downtown core, all the work you do is going to be a work in futility. We need a governor that is committed to a fix of TDOT and the roads around Nashville.

The first thing on the agenda is to widen the remainder of Briley Parkway and give it Interstate status and designate that as a northern bypass around Nashville. That will involve redoing the I-24, I-65, & Brick Church Pike interchanges as they are not up to federal standards. complete the four-lane the section between Gallatin & I 40 while redoing the interchange at Ellington & I65 as that is a mess. 

They have already raised the bridge at James Dr. in anticipation of this as it was too low. 

After this step is finished then all trucks should be rerouted on this route to continue west or I-440 to go I 65 south but no further on I 440 as that would be truck prohibited past that point except local truck traffic. No trucks past the I-24/40 spit into downtown except for local traffic and even then, they should have to exit at Spence Lane, then they have the option of Elm Hill Pike or Murfreesboro Rd. to go into downtown.

For truckers coming south on I 65 they will be forced to take Briley to I-440. Briley would have to be connected to I-440 along I-40 to keep from having to do the big lane crossover to 440.

The main thing is no trucks on the northern or southern loops.

[donNdonelson2]

Briley Parkway also needs to be upgraded and converted to a limited access freeway from I-24 to I-40 to make your transformation complete. I think diverting ALL through traffic away from downtown is an essential part of correcting the clusterF**K that is the current state of things!

[rookzie]

On 12/7/2022 at 9:05 PM, MagicPotato said:

Another tidbit, there's no bridges that connects from East Nashville to Briley. The area east of the Cumberland River is in a need of a few connecting points. The only access points from East Nashville to Briley is the Gallatin Pike S interchange.   The Eastern part of Nashville in general has terrible connecting points with Wilson County, excluding I40 and Lebanon Pike. 

 

On 12/8/2022 at 2:05 PM, Baronakim said:

No one WANTS one either.  There is no road suitable to be a good access as the entire area in Inglewood is totally filled out with subdivisions with winding streets.  Porter and Cahal would possibly been good feeder connectors but there would be a fecesstorm taking a bridge across Shelby Bottoms!  You can probably totally forget "a few connecting points" It will never happen.

Just an aside....

McGavock Pk. had a ferry crossing until around 1965, when I was in HS.  When it was shut down, the ferry itself was moved to serve Cleece's Ferry (a.k.a. "Clee's") , which connected OH Blvd. (Old Hickory) in Bell's Bend with Annex Ave. in the Charlotte Park /  Croleywood area.  Cleece's was shut down by the end of 1990.  Coincidentally, both ferry crossings ─ the last two of all such ferries in the county ─ were "displaced" with progressively completed extensions of Briley Pkwy.  The last time I would do Cleece's was around 1978 or so.

[markhollin]

A big boy mobile crane is now on north side of viaduct; some prep work being done at ground level at 11th Ave. North.

Looking SE from Porter St., 1/2 block east of 12th Ave. North:

Looking SE from11th Ave. North underneath the Broadway Viaduct:

[Bos2Nash]

On 12/10/2022 at 9:38 AM, smeagolsfree said:

Just did a long drive from Nashville to Homestead via Miami, Ft Lauderdale, Orlando, Jacksonville, Atlanta, and back through Montgomery & Birmingham. To see the interstates going through the heart of some of these cities, I will say Nashville has as we all know seen zero improvements around the core. When I go on a trip, I drive 99% of the time and do notice things like express lanes, new road construction, toll lanes, etc. I will say Nashville lags well behind just about, if not all other major US cities with the interstate design around downtown. I have driven in or around every large US city east of the Rockies with exception of Detroit. There is only one I have not driven around the core and that is Minneapolis.

You can fix interchanges all day long but until you take a look at the basic road design and figure out how to reroute traffic outside the downtown core, all the work you do is going to be a work in futility. We need a governor that is committed to a fix of TDOT and the roads around Nashville.

The first thing on the agenda is to widen the remainder of Briley Parkway and give it Interstate status and designate that as a northern bypass around Nashville. That will involve redoing the I-24, I-65, & Brick Church Pike interchanges as they are not up to federal standards. complete the four-lane the section between Gallatin & I 40 while redoing the interchange at Ellington & I65 as that is a mess. 

They have already raised the bridge at James Dr. in anticipation of this as it was too low. 

After this step is finished then all trucks should be rerouted on this route to continue west or I-440 to go I 65 south but no further on I 440 as that would be truck prohibited past that point except local truck traffic. No trucks past the I-24/40 spit into downtown except for local traffic and even then, they should have to exit at Spence Lane, then they have the option of Elm Hill Pike or Murfreesboro Rd. to go into downtown.

For truckers coming south on I 65 they will be forced to take Briley to I-440. Briley would have to be connected to I-440 along I-40 to keep from having to do the big lane crossover to 440.

The main thing is no trucks on the northern or southern loops.

I agree with almost everything here. expanding Briley doesn't necessarily need to happen, but if we were to eliminate a large portion of the inner loop I could see it being viewed as a requirement. The interchanges would need to be upgraded no matter what though. Prohibiting through truck traffic is not really a realistic option. Most big cities have one through traffic route. I would say the biggest prohibition we could take would be Haz Mat, but even that is typically only limited when an inner city tunnel is in play.  I'm quoting myself below on a proposal for highway re-routing/improvement from February. The proposal maintains the straighter thru traffic connection and would allow for the downtown to continue expanding west like the trends are showing currently. This is not to say the eastern portion of the interstate should not be improved, but I think it is the most logical route to maintain through traffic on. 

Folks make it seem like truck traffic is the problem. It is not though, it is the single occupant vehicles with drivers who feel like they are entitled to roadway space. Truckers are necessary for our economy to function. Single occupant vehicles are not. There are several other means of transportation that single occupants can take. For goods being delivered by trucker, there is ultimately one other efficient mode and that is rail. Truckers also have alot more driver training than single occupant vehicles and while some of them are dick-ish drivers, overall they are better as a whole. This is one reason why many long trip drivers follow the truck routes rather than the thru traffic routes.

Also remember what Mr. Looper said at one of our recent meet-ups. We are a very low tax and a very low service state. The fact we are unwilling to take on any debt to improve our roadways will hamper not just Nashville, but the state as a whole. Ideally, it would be great to see the thru traffic route (I-24/I-65) be put underground through a tunnel from Browns Creek to the east up to Pages branch just south of Trinity Lane. But we all know that would never happen. 

On 2/3/2021 at 12:55 PM, Bos2Nash said:

I saw CityLab's post on instagram about this and considered posting about it. My mind also thought about which portion of highway could downtown remove effectively while maintaining certain vital connections. From an idealistic standpoint it would be great if we could remove the innerloop altogether and have 440 be the closest highway to the downtown core. That is unrealistic though. 

Here is my proposal based on the goal of dismantling our urban highways:

RED = Re-align and improve the 24/65 corridor that divides East Nashville from the East Bank. This was my first thought for a teardown, but if this stretch of freeway was to be removed, there isn't a ton of connections that can be re-created. Plus with developments such as River North, the redevelopment of the Truck Stop, Nissan Stadium Redevelopment and the future for PSC Metals, those will all be big money developments that will turn their back on the low income folks anyways.

Magenta = 440 and 40 become the same road and circulate around downtown to provie East/West connection. This would require a massive re-configuration of the 24/440/40 interchange along with Murfreesboro Road, but moving the East/West traffic out of downtown would be great.

BLUE = Removal of Interstate 65 extension. This provide the best chance to reconnect a decimated part of the city. North Nashville needs to have the street grid re-connected and those historic neighborhoods need to be woven back into the every day life of the city. The preferred route for drivers coming from the west and heading north would be to take Briley Parkway (see blue in second image).

GREEN = Removal of Interstate 65 from 440 to the Inner Loop. Redirect traffic east on 440/40 to connect to points north or east on 440/40 for points west. This will sow WeHo back together with the likes of Melrose and Edgehill.

CYAN = Removal of the inner loop entirely! There has been talk about the capping of this section, but that is unrealistic because the amount of ventilation and infrastructure that be needed (think Big Dig)

Obviously this would be a massive overhaul of our interstate system and would take someone an unfathomable amount of political power, but the benefits for our city - I think - would be tenfold. Sewing neighborhoods back together, expanding the plauisble footprint of our core and also remove alot of vehicle traffic out of the core. Not to mention the amount of land that could become available for actual taxable land that I'm sure the state would be able to solicit some big money for!

Here would would be an idea of what the core could look like with the inner loops whited out. Unrealistic in the grand scheme, but really not so far-fetched that it seems impossible.

 

 

  

 

[Nathan_in_DC]

On 12/9/2022 at 1:07 PM, smeagolsfree said:

 

Come on guys, how short is your memory????? Half of this crap has been tried before.  I do not know who came up with this survey, but they must have just moved here.

Buses my rear. There they go again pushing a worthless asset that few use and that is relatively worthless in getting around the city. Another fact is they bring up bikes and scooters when many people do not use that mode of transit. It is not a safe mode of transit. Yes, I am playing devil's advocate here.

This has been influenced by the mayor's office I am sure that has always pushed buses as a last and final resort. The buses do not run often, and they eliminated the downtown circulator which was free. That was the best thing they had going downtown. Why they eliminated it is beyond me. They should have expanded it. That would have solved a lot of the problems they are having issues with downtown. The only issue they had with the circulator was they had it running up and down Demonbreun which ended up being closed half of the time due to events.

They were supposed to have upgraded the traffic signals and said they did it under the Berry administration, and now they are still trying to do it. You can only upgrade so much. When you have so much traffic all the upgrading in the world will not help. They only thing they can do better with the signal's downtown is to dedicate pedestrian only signals for pedestrians with no turning vehicles at more crosswalks and make the timers longer.

They were also supposed to have the deliveries in the mornings for the businesses to create less problems. They have also tried to lessen parking on the streets, but the downtown business owners beotched.

Dedicated lanes! Who are they fooling. We all know where that idea will go.

 

I don't know... I mean, if they had better headways, better waiting areas (not just a sign on a pole...), and dedicated busways through congested areas especially, I do think more people would ride. Especially if combined with a concentrated marketing and education campaign. It wouldn't take much, either. A couple of trunk lines connecting areas people want to go with busses that run every 10 minutes WILL bring riders. If people can walk two or three blocks, and not have to plan around unreliable schedules (just get up and go...you'll never wait more than a few minutes), then more people will ride. 

I'd LOVE to see more train lines connecting people to the suburbs and exurbs, especially with reverse commute options and frequent headways, but that is much more of a pipedream than better bus connections in the city.

[markhollin]

NDOT launched a fleet of 75rentable e-bikes by Bird, Lime, and Spin.  The pilot program includes areas north, west, and south of downtown. Look out for 24 new bike racks located on 12th Avenue South, West End Avenue, and other streets (see the map below). The three companies will utilize geofencing technology to ensure bikes remain in pilot areas.

In the coming months, NDOT will assess the data collected by Bird, Lime, and Spin to determine ways to enhance and possibly expand dockless e-bikes across Nashville.

In the coming months, NDOT will assess the data collected by Bird, Lime, and Spin to determine ways to enhance and possibly expand dockless e-bikes across Nashville.

The pilot area excludes downtown while the Connect Downtown study is underway through early spring. Areas like East Nashville and the Gulch are also excluded, though NDOT Director Diana Alarcon said future expansion is possible.  

https://www.nashville.gov/departments/transportation/news/ndot-and-e-bike-companies-launch-citys-first-dockless-e-bike-pilot-program?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NASH_12.14.2022_DEC&utm_term=NASHtoday: Subscribers - MASTER

[PaulChinetti]

I’ve been taking scooters home from the Titans game recently and it’s not bad. Especially since traffic is slow and you don’t have to worry about getting run over. 
 

Except when you randomly run into a “slow area” and it knocks the speed down to 5mph. Which for my large self causes the scooter to barely move haha. 

[markhollin]

Underground infrastructure work being done at 12th Ave. South between McGavock St. and Demonbreun St. to prepare for work on Gulch Union Residential Tower One and Hyatt Caption Hotel.

[markhollin]

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is making transportation a priority of his second term, but without tax increases, taking on debt or making public transit investments. Instead, his administration is set on a strategy of tolls and higher electric vehicle fees to pay for road improvements across the state. 

On the table are ideas to convert carpool lanes into toll lanes, allow private companies to create express toll roads and increase the yearly electric vehicle yearly from $100 to $300. 

Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner Butch Eley said the administration has decided nothing yet but has plans to ask the legislature for approval to study tolls and to seek out proposals from private companies that could operate these roads, which would charge people to use them. 

"We think we can add additional lanes to allow people the choice to move faster," Eley said. "One day, you can choose to be in one lane and another day to be in another because you need to get to the soccer game or work on time. People can make that choice individually each day."

Tennessee faces between a $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion yearly shortfall in infrastructure expenses, according to studies by TDOT and the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. Projected road costs far exceed revenues generated by the various fuel taxes in place in Tennessee, the primary way the state funds highway projects. 

Over the past few decades, tolls have become more widespread and sophisticated. Gone are the days of dropping quarters at a booth, instead replaced with a series of license plate readers, transponders and an autopay system. 

Some toll roads even fluctuate based on the demand and distance traveled, meaning driving on those during rush hour would be more expensive than driving late at night. 

The transportation department has spent some time in Texas studying the toll system in Dallas, Eley said, where the rates range anywhere from $0.59 to $15.60 depending on the trip's distance. 

The toll plan is still in the early phases. As lawmakers spend more time in their communities around the holidays, the discussion around tolls could pick it up, swaying them either way. 

Another infrastructure project under consideration is improvements to the state's rail lines. Last year, a bipartisan group of lawmakers passed a Democratic-led bill to study expansion of Amtrak into Tennessee.  The study should come out early next year.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, said in a statement that connecting Memphis to Nashville to Chattanooga to Atlanta through rail should play a role in any infrastructure plan dealing with congestion. 

"As we look to ease our congestion issues all across our state, I agree we must address our roadways, but we also must look at connecting Tennessee by rail to other hubs," Sexton said. "The possible expansion, if feasible, of our rail system will not only help ease congestion but will also add to our thriving state economy by connecting us to the east coast and Midwestern rail routes."

More behind The Tennessean paywall here:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2022/12/15/toll-roads-tennessee-gov-bill-lee-traffic-congestion/69686095007/

[PaulChinetti]

What is the electric vehicle fee, never heard of that one?

3 hours ago, markhollin said:

Another infrastructure project under consideration is improvements to the state's rail lines. Last year, a bipartisan group of lawmakers passed a Democratic-led bill to study expansion of Amtrak into Tennessee.  The study should come out early next year. House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, said in a statement that connecting Memphis to Nashville to Chattanooga to Atlanta through rail should play a role in any infrastructure plan dealing with congestion. 

"As we look to ease our congestion issues all across our state, I agree we must address our roadways, but we also must look at connecting Tennessee by rail to other hubs," Sexton said. "The possible expansion, if feasible, of our rail system will not only help ease congestion but will also add to our thriving state economy by connecting us to the east coast and Midwestern rail routes."

More behind The Tennessean paywall here:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2022/12/15/toll-roads-tennessee-gov-bill-lee-traffic-congestion/69686095007/

Like the mentions of rail even if it's the first time I've ever heard anyone in the state mention rail.

[donNdonelson2]

19 minutes ago, PaulChinetti said:

What is the electric vehicle fee, never heard of that one?

Like the mentions of rail even if it's the first time I've ever heard anyone in the state mention rail.

Here is a screenshot from an article with info on state fees for EVs. The highest in the list is Ga with $200.

 

[Archibum]

A user on reddit had a good analysis last week of the proposed EV fee:

[lmc123]

2 hours ago, Archibum said:

A user on reddit had a good analysis last week of the proposed EV fee:

Newer EV SUV's and Trucks weigh more (sometimes up to 30%) than their ICE counterparts because of the batteries. With that weight difference, the impact of road damage and maintenance needs to also be taken into account.