Navigating Nashville's Victory Memorial Bridge is about to get more complicated over the next couple of years, as the Tennessee Department of Transportation prepares to launch a reconstruction project tied to development along the budding East Bank.
It’s part of a TDOT project centered on the state-managed James Robertson Parkway, which runs across the bridge before becoming Rosa L. Parks Avenue on the downtown side. Construction work is slated to begin early next year and wrap up by late 2029.
As part of the project, TDOT will lower the approach to Victory Memorial Bridge, as well as reconstruct the parkway between Interstate Drive and South First Street east of the Cumberland River. Eventually, First Street will turn into the main thoroughfare
of the new neighborhood, East Bank Boulevard.
TDOT has indicated that the bridge, an essential connector between East Nashville and downtown first built in 1956 in tribute to military soldiers from Nashville and Davidson County who lost their lives serving during World War II, will close for at least part of 2027 as part of the project.
The majority of the bridge includes elevated sections slated to be removed and lowered, with the span extending over the river into downtown to remain as is.
“This will eliminate the existing physical and visual barrier created by the current elevated roadway and enhance multimodal connections and private development opportunities within the wider East Bank community,” TDOT’s project page reads.
Today referred to by some locals as the James Robertson bridge since the parkway runs across it, the 1,900-foot bridge’s official opening back in the 1950s coincided with an Armed Forces Day parade and celebration. According to TDOT’s average annual daily traffic count data, an average of nearly 27,000 vehicles per day traveled the bridge in either direction in 2025.
Austin Hornbostel is the Metro reporter for The Tennessean. Have a question about local government you want an answer to? Reach him at ahornbostel@tennessean.com.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: James Robertson bridge to close for months in 2027 for construction
