FALL 2013
DOMESTIC
Get Amped
T
The future of public transportation in Nashville
hroughout Nashville, attention-grabbing crimson signs emblazoned with the phrase “Stop
Amp” have been steadily multiplying,
spreading from lawn to lawn at a breakneck pace. Fortunately, these dastardly
maroon invaders have recently begun to
meet stiff opposition from heroic emerald signs proudly displaying the forward-thinking, eloquent, and egalitarian
battle cry “Amp Yes.” These two signs
represent two opposing camps facing off
over the development of the controversial Nashville Amp, a new transit system
that represents the most recent of Nashville’s large-scale development projects spearheaded by Mayor Karl Dean.
Since his election in 2007, Mayor
Dean has emulated
the governing style
of former
Nashville
by WILL STEWART ‘16
Mayor and Tennessee superhero Phil
Bredesen, who served from 1991-1999.
It was through his large, attention-grabbing projects – such as securing both an
NFL and an NHL franchise for Nashville
and building the Nashville (now Bridgestone) Arena – that Bredesen made a
name for himself in Middle Tennessee. The recent opening of the massive
Nashville Convention Center and the
proposed development of the aforementioned transit system represent Mayor
Dean’s commitment to a similar strategy.
The Nashville Amp is described as a
7.1-mile bus rapid transit (BRT) system
that will run from the St. Thomas Hospital area on West End Avenue, through
the heart of downtown, and to the Five
Points neighborhood in East Nashville.
It will have its own dedicated two lanes,
allowing the Amp buses to move freely
and quickly in what is otherwise gridlocked traffic. Yet today’s traffic is hardly the only motivator for the system’s
development; according to the Nashville
Metropolitan Planning Organization, the
population of the Nashville Metropolitan Area is expected to increase by about
one million people by 2035, necessitating upgrades in public transit capabilities. Most urban development projects
along this route are nearing completion,
and more and more businesses and residents are moving into adjacent neighborhoods, like Midtown. According to
the Nashville Metropolitan Transit Authority, the estimated transit time from
St. Thomas Hospital to Bridgestone Arena is expected to double within the next
three years. Something needs to be done
immediately to prevent already-congested areas from getting out of hand.
This is the right time for Nashville
to take action—and not just because of
the strains put upon the city by increased
population growth. Indeed, Nashville’s
relatively strong economic standing puts
the city in a unique position to invest in
public infrastructure. While Nashville
by no means weathered the recession
unscathed, it has been something of a
success story relative to its peers: the
Brookings Institute ranks Nashville 6th
Kaldari
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