Nashville Transportation Planners Join Forces
It’s a new TDOT Project Outreach meeting aimed at reducing traffic congestion

Nashville, Tennessee - The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) hosted a first-of-its-kind Project Outreach meeting today in Nashville aimed at coordinating road construction planning in the region.

“This is an effort to bring all transportation planners together to map out our strategies through the year 2005,” TDOT Commissioner Gerald Nicely said.  “We hope to identify potential problem areas and work together with regional planners to adjust our projects where possible.”

Commissioner Nicely headed the unprecedented three hour work session held at TDOT’s Region Three headquarters campus off Briley Parkway in Nashville.  Local officials with transportation responsibilities and interests, including mayors and county executives in a seven county area around the Nashville vicinity who are members of the Nashville area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), state legislators, and representatives from the Federal Highway Administration, were all participants in the session.

“We’re happy to be a part of this important new effort,” said Jeanne Stevens, Executive Director of the Nashville MPO.  “Coordinating our construction plans in this way should make a significant difference in the success of these projects and should help reduce the challenges road construction will present to drivers.”

A complex set of GIS-based maps, designed by TDOT’s mapping team, displayed all of the state’s planned projects for Nashville and six surrounding counties.  Maps representing projects designed by the local MPO were also presented.

“We are able to make some important observations by working together with the same mapping blueprints,” Nicely explained.  “We will continue to try to work more closely than ever with local planners as we shape and design future road construction projects.”

TDOT’s maps and demonstrations outlined 165 projects that included road maintenance and widening projects, new road construction plans, bridge improvement and replacement projects and resurfacing projects.

“Our department has held similar meetings in Knoxville and Chattanooga.  We have one planned soon for Memphis.  We hope to hold these outreach meetings annually in each of the four major urban areas to keep our efforts coordinated as best we can with local projects.”

*Project outreach maps are available in TDOT’s media room at www.tennessee.gov/tdot/mediaroom.