In the wake of a fatal vehicle crash Aug. 1 on Lower Broadway, members of the Metro Council are considering actions to increase roadway safety in Nashville.
According to an ongoing investigation by the Metro Nashville Police Department, 87-year-old Thomas Cahill of Bowling Green, Ky., was traveling south on Fourth Avenue on Saturday when he ran a red light at Broadway, striking several pedestrians. The accident resulted in the death of 58-year-old Timothy Wedlock of Australia and serious injuries to three others.
“The incident on Broadway this weekend was a horrific tragedy, and my heart goes out to the family and loved ones of those impacted,” District 19 Councilmember Jacob Kupin, who represents downtown and Broadway, tells Scene sister publication the Nashville Post.
“After an event like this, I look back to see what could we have done differently," Kupin adds. "Was there a way to prevent this?”
“Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything we could have done to prevent this. My understanding is there may have been a medical emergency or some issue. It seems to be an accident. It could have happened on any street anywhere. It could have happened in 12South. It could’ve happened anywhere in our city. It could’ve even happened a block or two up from this area.”
Kupin says he is open to conversations about closing the busiest stretch of Broadway to car traffic. Currently, Lower Broadway is closed to vehicle traffic on Friday and Saturday nights.
Fifty-eight-year-old Billy Ray Swaner was walking along the sidewalk near the intersection of East Trinity Lane and Gallatin Pike on May 4 whe…
“It’s something we evaluate on a regular basis,” he says. “We have regular meetings with MNPD and [the Tennessee Department of Transportation] and [the Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure] and stakeholders to determine where that threshold is.”
The Aug. 1 accident — as well as a previous surge in pedestrian and cyclist deaths — has prompted a petition advocating to close Lower Broadway to vehicle traffic from First to Fifth avenues.
Kupin sponsored a nonbinding resolution, which passed during the council’s July 21 meeting, urging NDOT and the mayor’s office to “renew and accelerate” its commitment to Metro’s Vision Zero policy aiming to eliminate pedestrian fatalities in Davidson County.
Prior to the weekend’s fatal crash, District 30 Councilmember Sandra Sepulveda filed legislation to ban vehicles from turning right at red lights within Metro’s Urban Services District, an area that includes most of Nashville’s busiest roadways. If passed, the legislation would not apply to emergency vehicles.
The legislation text references the Vision Zero policy, noting: “Pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users and persons with disabilities are disproportionately vulnerable to injury and death at signalized intersections. ... Permitting right turns on red requires motorists to divide their attention between conflicting vehicle traffic and pedestrians lawfully crossing within crosswalks, increasing the likelihood of crashes.”
The council will consider the legislation on its first of three readings on Tuesday, Aug. 4.
This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
