Take a Right at Dozier Parkway
Metro to rename sections of Briley in the name of fairness
To avoid the appearance of favoritism in the mayor’s race, Metro officials have confirmed that, until the election, sections of Briley Parkway will undergo a temporary name change.
Candidate David Briley is the grandson of Beverly Briley, the first mayor of Metro Nashville and the man for whom the inner-county ring road is named.
Beginning Monday, Metro Public Works will cover most of the road signs bearing the Briley name, replacing them with signs featuring the names of the other four viable candidates. The result will be that the road formerly known as Briley Parkway will, depending on location, have five different names.
“Part of the road around Opryland will be known as Clement Parkway,” explains Billy Lynch, Metro Public Works director. “After it crosses the river it’ll be Gentry Parkway, a few miles later it’s Dean Parkway and where it feeds into White Bridge Road it’ll be Dozier Parkway.
“The Briley name will still be on the part between Thompson Lane and I-40. And the Woodmont connector will keep its name. In fact, if somebody named Woodmont would get into the race, it would work out great.”
Lynch notes that Public Works has carefully balanced the sections of road named for the respective candidates based on distance and traffic flow.
“We’ve been as fair about this as I know how to be,” he says. “Everybody agrees that it wouldn’t be right to have a major roadway appearing to endorse one candidate. It’s sort of like if Fred Thompson decides to run for president, he can’t be on Law & Order every night anymore.”
Some expressed mild disagreement with the road plan.
“This is the most idiotic thing I’ve ever heard of,” one local official says. “Tourists already have enough trouble finding their way around without the names of roads changing all the time. More than they already do, I mean.”
