The Gulch-SoBro pedestrian bridge, a nearly $18 million glorified sidewalk first approved by the Metro Council in 2014 under then-Mayor Karl Dean and kept alive through three mayoral administrations, is dead.
Mayor John Cooper announced Thursday the funds set aside for the pedestrian bridge will be reallocated to neighborhood infrastructure projects throughout the county.
“The quality of our neighborhoods is measured, in large part, by the quality and safety of our roads and bridges,” Cooper says in his announcement. “When $18 million for the SoBro-Gulch Pedestrian Bridge was allocated in 2013, that amount represented 100% of the funding for bridge repair and construction for the entire 2014 fiscal year. Currently, Public Works estimates that $131 million is needed to repair and replace our bridges and culverts. Now is the time for responsible spending to address our most critical infrastructure needs and focus on the safety and priorities that impact all of Nashville’s neighborhoods.”
The Gulch-SoBro pedestrian bridge has been a source of controversy since it was first proposed. The idea of a costly 700-foot bridge for tourists and inexplicably rich 20-somethings was met with complaints about neighborhoods lacking quality sidewalks if they had any at all. It also made little sense given that we already have a long bridge-ish structure connecting the Gulch and SoBro known as the Demonbreun St. Viaduct.
In any case, five years later, it's no more.
Here are the projects Cooper says he'll fund instead:
- $13.63 million of the $17.95 million will immediately go to shovel-ready bridge and culvert projects, ranked in order of urgency by Metro Public Works, in 24 different Council districts. 52 separate projects will receive funding;
- $660,000 will go towards replacing the Shelby Bottoms Greenway Pedestrian Bridge, which has been closed due to structural damage;
- $1,500,000 for traffic calming, which represents 100% of the traffic calming allocation in the 2018-19 Capital Spending Plan;
- $750,000 for bikeways, which represents 50% of the bikeways allocation in the 2018-19 Capital Spending Plan;
- $500,000 for new trash and recycling containers, an urgent need highlighted by Metro Public Works;
- $410,000 for emergency roadway work, which will allow Metro Public Works to quickly address needs as they arise; and
- $500,000 for street lighting maintenance, repair, and replacement
- Community stakeholders impacted by the diversion of the pedestrian bridge funds have been notified, and both Metro Public Works and Metro Parks are aware that the funds will be made available for infrastructure projects to begin immediately.
