Why doesn't Nashville have a bypass? (Chattanooga, Clarksville: homes, cost of, airport)

[moondoggy51]

Is there any safe, minimally stressful ways to bypass the trip thru Nashville to and from I-65 to I-24?

My wife and I are in our 60's and periodically travel from Pensacola. FL to Bloomington, IL. About 10 years ago after hitting a deer my wife developed a real fear of being injured or killed in a car wreck to the point where she takes a anti-anxiety medication if the stress of driving thru a big city becomes too great for her. Even with the meds she still gets stressed out when the traffic is heavy and when other drivers are speeding and doing a lot of lane shifting as she fears that we will be hit by someone not paying attention to what they are doing. It's bad enough that she has to suffer from this phobia but when she gets really stressed out her verbal and physical responses to perceived, non-existent threats affects my ability to concentrate on driving which increases my stress level as well which in turn further increases her stress level

The last time we went north on I-65 to catch I-24 in Nashville we encountered 5 accidents and from 30 miles south of Nashville to I-24 it took us 3 hours and we have not been back trough Nashville since as that trip was just over the top in stress. To bypass Nashville we've been catching I-22 out of Birmingham and going through Memphis which has relieved a lot of her stress but that route adds a lot of additional time to what's already a very long trip. Based on our last trip a few weeks ago my wife now wants to give Nashville another shot but only if there's an alternative means of traveling through Nashville.

So, I keep hearing about some route around Nashville called Briley Parkway that allows you to go to and from I-65 to I-24 and bypass the congestion of traveling thru Nashville but I don't know if they're telling me to take the east bound or west bound Briley Parkway or both routes depending on whether your northbound or southbound. Can someone that knows the roads around Nashville give me an idea as to what route to take and what we can expect if we go that route? Note that we only travel during the day and regardless of whether we were northbound or southbound we would always hit Nashville between 1:30 and 3:30 in the afternoon. Thanks in advance for your advice.

[N.Cal]

Have you thought about flying?

[CountryGirl2b=]

I find Nashville a lot less stressful than driving through Atlanta, which means I go to the IKEA in Cincinnati! I would rather be moving on a smaller road with traffic lights and places to stop, than stuck in traffic on a highway, so I am with you there.

Unfortunately I have no secret routes to offer HOWEVER what I would do in any city that I have to drive through, is have a good MAP in the car (and someone who knows how to read it) along with GPS on my smart phone. I don't have a GPS in the car (the ones that sit on your dashboard) and am not sure if they show traffic. But my iPhone DOES. It shows roads as being green or red or yellow and even reported accidents.

Even if you don't have a smart phone, maybe when you are a little bit out of Nashville, stop at a library in a town and use their computer to check the traffic (Google Maps does it) flow.

If you look at a map of Nashville, you'll see that there are 'spokes' that come out of the center. So you can scoot over from 65 to 24 on Old Hickory Blvd (which shouldn't be busy before 3) or Harding Place. or wait until you get to I 40. There's a 'surface' street" - 31, that parallels 65 to the west. If things started to back up, you can scoot over there. The traffic apps (or Google Map) will even show you where the congestion begins to break.

So, a good map and a smart phone or a stop at a library (or Starbucks with your laptop) would be helpful. It's really hard to predict accidents and I'm sorry you had such a bad time of it. Familiarizing yourself with alternatives will really ease the stress.

Happy to send you a good city map if you DM me!

[ExIslander]

Originally Posted by moondoggy51

So, I keep hearing about some route around Nashville called Briley Parkway that allows you to go to and from I-65 to I-24 and bypass the congestion of traveling thru Nashville but I don't know if they're telling me to take the east bound or west bound Briley Parkway or both routes depending on whether your northbound or southbound. Can someone that knows the roads around Nashville give me an idea as to what route to take and what we can expect if we go that route? Note that we only travel during the day and regardless of whether we were northbound or southbound we would always hit Nashville between 1:30 and 3:30 in the afternoon. Thanks in advance for your advice.

One problem with Briley is, it loops around the northern half of town; if you are coming in from the south on 65, it won't help you until you get there. Since you're going to 24 west, you would want the western part of the loop.

Two ideas. First, a short-bypass strategy that will let you avoid downtown and some of the worst interstate junctions.

65 >> 440 West >> 40 West >> 155 North (aka Briley) >> 24 West

440 is congested itself, especially at rush hour, but if you are going to be there between 1:30-3:30 it shouldn't be too bad. Any later and it will worsen quickly.

Next, a long-bypass strategy:

65 >> 840 West >> 40 East >> 155 North (aka Briley) >> 24 West

This will let you avoid nearly all the city congestion until you get close to Briley, but will add 30ish miles to the trip. Then again, if you're already detouring as far as you are, that may be an acceptable tradeoff.

[DonCorleone]

Briley would work and would be the most direct way that I can think of; however, I doubt it would limit any anxiety especially if you're coming through rush hour.

ExIslander's recommendations make sense too.

But I guess I keep thinking that it sounds like you just caught a really terrible stretch of traffic the last time you came through Nashville. Don't get me wrong, that can happen again, but it could also happen in any other city you come near. I'd probably just go direct, hope for the best. Or like CountryGirl recommended and use a gps traffic app like Waze or similar and then adopt ExIslander's bypass recommendations.

[artemis]

If you're not coming thru town during rush hour, I would recommend that you stay on I-65 thru Downtown, and hook-up with I-24 off of I-65 N. Or, you could continue North on I-65 and get on Briley Pkwy West, which will also take you over to I-24 Westbound.

[Reactionary]

You might consider taking 840 west to ~Dickson, then on to Clarksville / Evansville / home or Clarksville / Bowling Green / home.

You'll miss out on a lot of Nashville traffic, but (trigger warning) you may see more deer.

[brentwoodgirl]

Originally Posted by Reactionary

You might consider taking 840 west to ~Dickson, then on to Clarksville / Evansville / home or Clarksville / Bowling Green / home.

You'll miss out on a lot of Nashville traffic, but (trigger warning) you may see more deer.

Agreed. I've done this before when going from work in Clarksville to a ball games in Leiper's Fork at rush hour. It was a very easy drive with very little traffic.

[GWoodle]

One route from Pensacola to Bloomington may be to stay on I-65 thru Nashville & Kentucky until you get to Indy. From there use I-74 to Champaign & Bloomington. Not an easy route by adding 2 more larger cities.

I have used I-24 to I-57 in the Marion & Mount Vernon area. From there maybe you could use aq state route to get to US 51. At least it has 4 lanes until someplace south of Decatur.

What makes Briley difficult to suggest is the way it circles almost the city but changes names from Thompson Lane to White Bridge Road before it becomes Briley again. In this west zone you have some 2 lane city streets to use. In a car it is OK (if you need a stop for gas-food).

On the south side where Thompson Lane meets I-65 you have to get off at Armory Drive then go north & decide if you want to go east or west.

The best & easy route may be to stay on I-65 thru Nashville until you get past Trinity Lane where I-24 branches off on the LH side of the road.

[moondoggy51]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I was not sure if Briley East was better than Briley West but from what everyone is telling me I should stay on Briley West both going to Illinois and on the return trip to Pensacola.

Can anyone tell me if 840 is basically and interstate grade of road? What I mean by "interstate grade" is that entrance and exit from the road occurs on ramps only vs. a 4 lane road where people can enter and exit at intersections. Same question about Briley Parkway?

Someone mentioned that we probably had bad luck the last time we went thru Nashville but it seems to us that if that was true then we are experiencing perpetual bad luck . Personally, I've driven in Chicago and Atlanta and as long as I have my Garmin I'm good to go but I have someone else to think about and if there a way to bypass most of the traffic it's easier on my wife if we add a bit of time to the trip.

Please let me know about 840 and Briley and thanks again for the advice.