In Bellevue, where the sidewalk ends isn't a whimsical collection of children’s poetry. It's a reality.
Near the roundabout at the intersection of Todd Preis Drive and Sawyer Brown Road, the sidewalk quite literally ends just around the bend from the Nashville Public Library’s Bellevue branch. But that won’t be the case for much longer.
An influx from Nashville’s $3.1 billion Choose How You Move transportation improvement program will soon fix that.
On Aug. 14, Mayor Freddie O’Connell and Sabrina Sussman, Choose How You Move’s chief program officer, announced $100 million in upcoming spending through the program.
“A $100 million investment package will advance projects from across our entire transportation system, from neighborhood sidewalks like
the one right here on Todd Preis that we’ll be building to major corridor investments,” Sussman said. “These projects will improve safety, reliability and connectivity to residents across Davidson County. That’s the impact that we’re making every day with Choose How You Move, and this announcement puts real dollars behind it.”
The largest chunk of funding, nearly $30 million, will go toward transit service upgrades. That includes $25.3 million toward constructing a new Donelson Transit Center and site selection for 11 other future transit centers slated to be built by 2032.
Here’s a breakdown of where else the funds are being spent.
- New sidewalks: A $16.8 million investment will move 17 new quick-build sidewalk projects across 15 Metro Nashville Council districts into the planning and design pipeline.
- Complete Streets: As part of the transportation improvement program, Nashvillians will soon see more “Complete Street” projects featuring improved sidewalks and bus stops, protected bike lanes and safer crossings. A $22.4 million investment will advance full construction for one of those projects on Edgehill Avenue and designs for other projects across a combined 8 miles of East Thompson Lane, County Hospital Road, Jefferson Street and Lebanon Pike.
- Traffic signal upgrades: A $4.5 million fiber communications network, $7.9 million for 99 new smart traffic signals across Gallatin Pike, Wedgewood Avenue, Edgehill Avenue and Hillsboro Pike and more are part of a combined $19 million in signal upgrades.
- All-access corridors: Choose How You Move’s centerpiece upgrades, 10 “All-Access Corridors,” will feature high-frequency bus service improvements, modernized signals and integrated transit signal priority giving buses the right-of-way as they move through traffic. A $7.7 million investment will advance two of those projects, on Nolensville Pike and Main Street/Gallatin Pike, further along in the process, as well as launch a Transit-Oriented Development Study aiming to establish a program-wide framework for how Nashville grows around high-quality transit.
“Every project in this investment package represents a step towards a transportation system that gives people more choices, safer trips and more time back in their day, whether they’re walking, biking, rolling, riding transit or driving,” Sussman said.
With that new spending package in play, Choose How You Move has now committed a total of $220 million toward transportation improvements since the half-cent sales tax partially funding the program went into effect in February 2025.
Austin Hornbostel is the Metro reporter for The Tennessean. Have a question about local government you want an answer to? Reach him with questions, tips and story ideas at ahornbostel@tennessean.com.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville rolls out next $100M in Choose How You Move projects
