Making a right turn at some red traffic lights in Nashville will soon be prohibited, but it won’t be because of the high-profile bill that’s been making its way through the Metro Nashville Council process.
That’s because the bill’s been withdrawn altogether. Instead, the Nashville Department of Transportation will roll out the ban itself, starting at a handful of intersections mostly concentrated downtown over the next two weeks.
That’s a significant difference in scale from both the original incarnation of the bill, which would have eliminated right turns on red at every intersection throughout Nashville’s nearly 200-square-mile Urban Services District, and the scaled-back substitute version that focused the ban to about 60 intersections located
mostly within the downtown core and near school zones.
The bill’s languished in a cycle of repeated deferrals since mid-September. But its main sponsor, District 30 council member Sandra Sepulveda, told council colleagues at an Oct. 19 committee meeting that a productive meeting with NDOT officials paved the way for the department to advance a concrete implementation plan without the need for any legislation.
“We are saving lives at the end of the day,” Sepulveda said. “We are going to save pedestrians and we are going to save cyclists, and the city is going to be better off.”
But Sepulveda and NDOT also said more work's ahead, as the department plans for continued study of potential pedestrian safety improvements at other intersections throughout the county.
Here’s where to expect changes over the next couple weeks.
Mapping the intersections where right turns on red will be banned
Sepulveda said NDOT's rollout would begin with 14 intersections, but a department spokesperson clarified Oct. 21 that a ban on right turns at red lights will only apply to seven intersections in that group. The others will initially be targeted for leading pedestrian interval improvements, which give pedestrians a three- to seven-second head start to enter a crosswalk before drivers get a green light.
One intersection, at 25th Avenue South and Children's Way, will receive both a right turn on red ban and a leading pedestrian interval upgrade, meaning that 13 total intersections will be affected in this first batch.
All of them were listed in Sepulveda's pared-down substitute bill, which targeted 57 intersections mostly located in downtown Nashville. Others, like Smith Springs Road and Old Murfreesboro Pike or Ninth Avenue North and Buchanan Street, extend the scope out into southeastern Davidson County and North Nashville respectively.
Here's the full list of intersections that will see changes in the coming weeks.
Intersections where right turns at red lights will be banned:
- Smith Springs Road and Old Murfreesboro Pike
- 12th Avenue North and Broadway
- Third Avenue North and Commerce Street
- Fourth Avenue South and Korean Veterans Boulevard
- Rosa L. Parks Boulevard and Church Street
- Nolensville Pike and Welshwood Drive
- 25th Avenue South and Children's Way
Intersections set to receive leading pedestrian interval upgrades:
- Ninth Avenue North and Buchanan Street
- 17th Avenue North and Jo Johnston Avenue
- Dr. DB Todd Jr. Boulevard and Jo Johnston Avenue
- 25th Avenue South and Children’s Way
- South Seventh Street and Main Street
- South 10th Street and Woodland Street
- 49th Avenue North and Charlotte Pike
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.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville scraps bill but moves ahead with right on red ban at these spots
