Latest news with #GinnyWelsch
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
South Nashville road shrinking to 1 lane in each direction for NDOT study
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Changes are coming to one of Nashville's busiest roads — but only temporarily. Starting this week, East Thompson Lane will look a lot different as part of a city test to make streets safer. Franklin hoping for local dollars to support short-term road projects 'A lot of people say East Thompson Lane is known for speeders,' South Nashville resident Sarah Tolentino said. 'It's really not safe for people to get from the neighborhoods to the park, to the grocery store and things without a car,' District 16 Council Member Ginny Welsch explained. Right now, East Thompson Lane has two lanes in each direction, but that's about to change temporarily. Starting Thursday, it'll be one lane each way to make room for a protected lane for walkers and bikers. For five days, from Thursday to Monday, NDOT will be testing a new layout along East Thompson Lane. The goal is to create a safer space for people without the cost of building new sidewalks. NDOT told that adding sidewalks would be too expensive, so this temporary design will help them determine if fewer traffic lanes could work. 'It will improve safety and add more mobility options,' NDOT Walking and Biking Manager Anna Dearman explained. Tennessee gas prices rise 15 cents: How tensions in the Middle East could impact prices The demonstration is partly in response to serious crashes. NDOT reported that from 2019 to 2023, eight people were killed on this stretch: four pedestrians and four drivers. But those numbers continued to rise. 'In June 2024, we saw another pedestrian fatality, and then in June 2025, we saw another driver fatality, so that number has gone up to 10,' Dearman said. To test out the study, a community bike ride is scheduled for Saturday at 11 a.m. from Whitsett Park. But not everyone is on board. Tolentino told News 2 she is worried about traffic delays and questions whether pedestrian paths are even needed, especially with a busy train track already slowing things down. 'In the last 20 years that we have lived here, I can think of maybe 12 cases that I have seen bikes go up and down that street,' Tolentino said. 'When the train hits, and it is going to be one lane in both directions, it is going to be all the way to Murfreesboro Road on one end and to Thompson Lane on the other,' Tolentino explained. 'So I cannot imagine all the difficulties of having to wait for traffic to settle down.' 📧 Have breaking news come to you: → NDOT will be collecting public feedback. If this trial goes well, construction on a permanent version could start in 2026. 'This is just to give people a taste of this is what we can do. We are looking for measures to make this safer, to make it more pedestrian friendly,' Welsch concluded. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Yahoo
Deadly crash at high-risk South Nashville intersection renews focus on traffic safety
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A deadly crash at a busy South Nashville intersection has put a spotlight on a known trouble spot. The Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure has already flagged the intersection merging Thompson, East Thompson Lane and Briley Parkway as part of the city's high-injury network. It's known to many in surrounding neighborhoods for speed and dangerous drivers. RELATED | MNPD: Man dead after being thrown from truck in Thompson Lane/Briley Parkway crash 'I've been driving the neighborhood for over a decade now, and that intersection is super scary,' Glancliff resident Rebecca Rabon told News 2, adding that she drives carefully through the area. Over the last decade, NDOT records showed that there have been 528 crashes at this intersection. Of those crashes, 393 resulted in property damage while four caused serious injuries. Prior to this weekend, just one crash there had been deadly. However, that changed on Sunday. The Metro Nashville Police Department said a 47-year-old Watertown man driving a pickup truck ran a red light, crashing into a car entering on a green light. The MNPD said he wasn't wearing a seat belt and died after he was thrown from his truck. He was pronounced dead at the scene. It's the type of tragedy Rabon has worried about for years. 'I immediately thought, 'Somebody probably ran the light,' because that is just what happens,' Rabon said. The Metro Councilmember for the area, Ginny Welsch, told News 2 that drivers are not the only ones at risk. 'So many of the people that we see getting injured at a lot of these intersections across Nashville are people who are working on the corners or panhandling,' Welsch said. Though there is a pilot program underway on East Thompson Lane to slow traffic, Rabon said that enforcement needs to go further. 'If we had people getting pulled for speeding, people getting pulled for running red lights, real consequences for people driving without insurance — things like that, I think, are necessary,' Rabon said. Welsch told News 2 that this spot is included in the city's Vision Zero plan, and potential long-term changes are on the horizon. Deadly crashes down in Tennessee ahead of holiday weekend 'For example, the smart lights — we will be able to watch, in real time, many of these intersections to see where problems are happening, where backups are happening, and situations are happening that we know might lead to people making more risky behaviors so we can change the length of lights.' However, she added that no amount of technology can replace wise choices behind the wheel. 'Your life is not worth that risk of that extra minute and a half to make it through that light,' Welsch concluded. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
