Why doesn't Nashville have a bypass? (Murfreesboro, Franklin: stadium, parking, park)

[athena53]

Originally Posted by nashvols

Briley - a little more separation from the downtown loop (3-5 miles, as opposed to 2-3 for 440). Also notable for its two river crossings, which is important because there are only 10 vehicle crossings in the county, and 6 of them are within the downtown interstate loop.
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At 3 o'clock to....4:30 -- from 40 to 24 -- is a mess. Part divided highway, part surface street...with a few exits mixed in. This is the forgotten portion of Briley. Traffic is a mess, because of some poorly placed, but necessary red lights. I think this section is eventually going to get a major overhaul and become more like the previous section (it will take some work). But making this portion restricted access -- and either 3-4 lanes on each side -- will help alleviate the 24-40-440 CF just down the road.
consider that there would be even less traffic on it. I'll be interested to see what it will look like when they actually complete this. Portions of it are great, but there are some long bottlenecks, especially in the U/C Wilson County portion (I haven't spent a lot of time on the Sumner side, but have taken it at least once north of Gallatin on 4 lanes).

Wow- thanks for this. I'm headed from KC to South Carolina tomorrow and I-24 through Nashville is always a parking lot. (Will be passing through late afternoon with a planned overnight in Mt. Juliet.) Briley looked like an option. I guess not.

[GWoodle]

Originally Posted by athena53

Wow- thanks for this. I'm headed from KC to South Carolina tomorrow and I-24 through Nashville is always a parking lot. (Will be passing through late afternoon with a planned overnight in Mt. Juliet.) Briley looked like an option. I guess not.

From KC you may be able to use US 412 from near Dyersburg to Jackson, a 4 lane built in the 90's. From there pick up I-40 into Nashville. To get to Mt Juliet maybe use Old Hickory from Bellevue over. With I-440 under construction we have to get creative to use other routes.

In the bigger picture TN badly needs to build I-69 from Memphis to the KY state line. KY has been busy constructing a segment from west KY to I-24 then on to Evansville IN. Indiana has been busy connecting Evansville to Indy. Someday there will be a new Ohio river bridge.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by athena53

Wow- thanks for this. I'm headed from KC to South Carolina tomorrow and I-24 through Nashville is always a parking lot. (Will be passing through late afternoon with a planned overnight in Mt. Juliet.) Briley looked like an option. I guess not.

If I understand you correctly, you're coming into Nashville from the NW on I-24 and headed to Mt Juliet. You'll be fine. Just take Briley Parkway (TN Hwy 155) from I-24 and head east. It'll loop around and head south to hook up with I-40 east of downtown. That segment of Briley Parkway is interstate quality, and even during rush hour it's not too bad. Where it gets messy is SOUTH of I-40 headed towards I-24 Southeast of town.

[N.Cal]

Originally Posted by GWoodle

From KC you may be able to use US 412 from near Dyersburg to Jackson, a 4 lane built in the 90's. From there pick up I-40 into Nashville. To get to Mt Juliet maybe use Old Hickory from Bellevue over. With I-440 under construction we have to get creative to use other routes.

Huh? Why would he be clear out there? I70 to STL, then 64 to 56 to 24, loop Briley to 40. I’ve done Nashville to Kansas City round-trip many times.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by JMT

If I understand you correctly, you're coming into Nashville from the NW on I-24 and headed to Mt Juliet. You'll be fine. Just take Briley Parkway (TN Hwy 155) from I-24 and head east. It'll loop around and head south to hook up with I-40 east of downtown. That segment of Briley Parkway is interstate quality, and even during rush hour it's not too bad. Where it gets messy is SOUTH of I-40 headed towards I-24 Southeast of town.

Yes, this.

Briley Pkwy from 24 on the northwest side of town to 40 on the east side of town is an effective bypass, and I would definitely, definitely recommend it versus taking 24 through the downtown loop during any daylight hours. The unimproved section of Briley does not enter the equation if you are heading towards Mt. Juliet.

Also, for any out of towners, pay close attention to the exit signage as you approach I-40 from Briley coming from the north. West is right, east is left....but the exit for going east (towards Knoxville) is going to be on the far right side. It's a flyover ramp, and a little counter-intuitive. The easiest tip is as soon as you get on Briley, just follow the "plane" sign that will lead you to the airport. Once on 40, move left a couple of lanes, because two of them end up exiting to the airport and Donelson Pk right after.

[athena53]

I didn't read this before I left at 6:30 AM, but I had the smoothest transit through Nashville I've ever had! Will save the above for future trips, though- possibly even the return trip although the reverse direction typically isn't as bad.

[GWoodle]

Originally Posted by N.Cal

Huh? Why would he be clear out there? I70 to STL, then 64 to 56 to 24, loop Briley to 40. I’ve done Nashville to Kansas City round-trip many times.

I think I was looking at not so well known before you get to Nashville bypass. We had a poster on here going from St Louis to Florida that used US 45. Some could use the new I-22 from near Memphis to Birmingham.

For the OP good to see your trip went very well.

[travelhound]

It's going to be to late to expand the area without massive land acquisitions via eminant domain. With the property values the way they are now I can't see that happening in our lifetime. They just didn't plan for this influx of millions of people into middle TN in time. One of the tragedies of I-24 is that's it has no alternative but learning to weave through the subdivisions off Nolensville road or through Antioch on Murfressboro pike. It's so hellishly awful to drive 1-24 I may have to give up my mechanic whose shop is right of Warden road exit in Lavernge. The 20 miles there is so scary, my next trip there I won't use 1-24. I go all the way down Nolenville to Lexox Village then through the subdivisions. Plus that has to be against rush hour traffic, since they didn't have the sense to expand Nolensville into a 4 lane.

I may have to give it up for a much smaller town. A few resturants and museums isn't enough if day to day life is so stressfull. And downtown? OMG. Don't even get me started. The fiscal planning is zero. they have entire blocks of just nothingness. It's a nightmare, and nowhere to park. Not worth it anymore.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by travelhound

It's going to be to late to expand the area without massive land acquisitions via eminant domain. With the property values the way they are now I can't see that happening in our lifetime. They just didn't plan for this influx of millions of people into middle TN in time.

I agree. Not just for Nashville, but it will be incredibly expensive to build any major new road project in the future. Not to mention that it takes decades for these projects to get completed. Look at I-840. The project was started in 1986, didn't begin construction until 1991, connected 40 and 24 in 1996, connected 24 and 65 in 2001, and it took until 2012 to complete the entire southern portion. 26 years. And that was going through a lot of farmland. There will be some shorter segments and bypasses built here and there around the metro, but I think 840 could possibly be the last major *new* freeway project. Everything else will be upgrades to interchanges and realignments.

You can just look at the surface streets and tell that the Nashville area never planned for this kind of growth. I think that while Nashville has always had big ambitions, it never really planned to be a big city. And it shows.

Originally Posted by travelhound

One of the tragedies of I-24 is that's it has no alternative but learning to weave through the subdivisions off Nolensville road or through Antioch on Murfressboro pike. It's so hellishly awful to drive 1-24 I may have to give up my mechanic whose shop is right of Warden road exit in Lavernge. The 20 miles there is so scary, my next trip there I won't use 1-24. I go all the way down Nolenville to Lexox Village then through the subdivisions. Plus that has to be against rush hour traffic, since they didn't have the sense to expand Nolensville into a 4 lane.

I get that some people don't like to use the interstates because of some of the crappy drivers -- but the idea of taking Nolensville Rd from Nashville to La Vergne hurts my brain.

They are expanding Nolensville Rd from Old Hickory Blvd to Burkitt Rd to 5 lanes. It is being done in two phases -- the first being OHB to Mill Creek, and then Mill Creek to Burkitt. I think as Nolensville continues to grow, they will need to eventually expand the road down to Sunset Rd. They can't really expand it beyond there, because the old village is too close to the road. At some point Nolensville should probably consider some sort of small bypass roads to distribute thru traffic elsewhere.

Originally Posted by travelhound

I may have to give it up for a much smaller town. A few resturants and museums isn't enough if day to day life is so stressfull. And downtown? OMG. Don't even get me started. The fiscal planning is zero. they have entire blocks of just nothingness. It's a nightmare, and nowhere to park. Not worth it anymore.

I completely understand if you think Nashville is getting too crowded or hectic for you. But this last paragraph is really confusing to me.

I don't know what you mean about fiscal planning downtown. Are you talking about infrastructure, zoning, TIF? Downtown is basically a money-printing machine for this city. While I think there are certainly issues that need to be addressed, I'm curious as to what you mean.

Also have no idea about blocks of nothingness, unless you mean things that are currently under construction, or about to be. The construction boom is making a lot of the nothing blocks disappear.

As for parking -- there are tons of places to park. Literally 40,000 parking spaces downtown. Fewer surface lots than there used to be, so maybe you mean that. Or maybe you mean free parking. There's very little of that. I realize that it's a turn-off for some people that used to frequent downtown and pay $0-5 to park are now looking at $10-20 in some cases -- but let's not be ridiculous -- there is a LOT of parking downtown.

For those that are not familiar, check this handy website if you aren't sure where to park. It has a comprehensive list of all of your options, plus how much the hourly/daily/monthly and event rates are. A lot of lots have a tricky pricing structure. I think the Metro garages are the safest bet if you haven't found a lot that you are comfortable with.

[N.Cal]

Also have no idea about blocks of nothingness,

I am guessing she means blocks of things that she would be interested in. And you are correct about the multitude of parking downtown.