Nashville mayor commits $15M more for sidewalks, street paving

Nashville is getting an approximately $15 million jolt in new sidewalk and street-paving projects, Mayor Megan Barry announced on Monday.

Barry said her administration identified funding for the new infrastructure projects after researching Metro’s outstanding bonds and finding about $30 million in unused authorized bond money from past projects that either never materialized or cost less than was originally expected. She’s reallocated around half that sum to sidewalks and street paving – areas that she called her top priorities as she looks to address infrastructure.

Additional dollars are on top of $20 million already earmarked for street paving in Metro’s current capital budget and $25 million already committed to sidewalks. The latter is a sidewalk-spending record for Nashville.

More funding comes after Barry last month announced that she plans to update the city's strategic plan for sidewalks and bikeways, which hasn’t been revised since 2008.

“My priorities for sidewalks are getting children to school and getting people to transit stops and bus stops,” Barry said in a speech before the downtown Rotary Club of Nashville on Monday.

“We’re doing more than we’ve generally done in the past,” she said of the new dollars committed to sidewalks and paving. “These capital dollars and the modernization of a sidewalk plan are going to make Nashville more walk-able.”

The majority of the available $30 million in authorized bond accounts come from two projects pushed by former Mayor Karl Dean that never got approved: $18 million from a planned police headquarters on Jefferson Street that the Metro Council voted down in the spring and $4.5 million in dollars devoted to The Amp, a bus rapid transit project Dean eventually abandoned.

Other dollars come from around 100 bond accounts for various city projects that were never fully spent. They range from large to very small. Among the leftover funds: just $6 that was left in the account used for the construction of a new Goodlettsville public library.

Barry said the other half of the $30 million in unspent bond money won't be used, saving Metro at least $1 million a year in debt service.

Barry’s infusion of sidewalk and street paving dollars, which does not require Metro Council approval, comes as Metro’s own internal report this year found two out of every five Nashville roads are hindered by potholes, cracks or other distresses even though local funding for street paving has started to improve.

Metro Public Works needs about $20 million in annual capital dollars to address paving on an annual basis. During the economic downturn that coincided with Dean's first term — 2007 through 2011 — Metro averaged only around $7 million a year. However, spending on street paving has increased since then.

On the infrastructure front, Barry last month announced the creation of a dedicated position to coordinate infrastructure efforts. She hired Mark Sturtevant, former construction manager of the Music City Center, to fill that role.

Barry devoted much of her Rotary speech on Monday to discuss her office staff (which she says is a much more diverse office) as well as new plans to co-chair a new committee that will help lead the search for a new Metro director of schools. Other notes from the speech include:

Barry, sworn in as mayor 52 days ago, said that Nashvillians need to have a conversation about possibly lengthening the transition period for future mayors. Barry was elected mayor of Nashville on Sept. 10 and was sworn in on Sept. 25 – giving her a two-week transition period that was originally going to be one week before Dean agreed to leave office one week later than planned. Nevertheless, Barry said she is pleased with the team she’s pieced together.

Barry said that downtown Nashville is in dire need of new childcare centers to feed the demand from the growing number of downtown workers. Barry mentioned that need as she discussed plans for Fifth + Broadway, a planned $400 million private retail-driven development at the site of the old Nashville Convention Center. There are currently only two childcare centers in downtown Nashville. “Talking with the developers as they come in and letting them know that this is a key deliverable for Nashville will be important,” she said.

Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236 and on Twitter @joeygarrison.