TDOT’s leader said Nashville’s transit plan failed at the ballot box because it “had no bearing on regional traffic” and would not help anyone, the Nashville Business Journal reports.
John Schroer made the comments at a town hall meeting last week at Williamson Inc., the Williamson County Chamber of Commerce. He is commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Transportation.
“It wasn’t going to help anybody, it was going down through the main corridors in Nashville,” the Journal said, quoting the Brentwood Home Page website. “Those were all state roads, and they had to get our approval … in order to do what they were going to do, but no one ever asked us about it.”
Schroer referred to the $9 billion Nashville transit plan that failed in a May 1 referendum by a massive ratio of 64 percent against vs. 34 percent in favor.
The Brentwood Home Page story quoted Schroer as saying Tennessee’s interstates are being used at only 20 percent of their capacity.
“If you look at downtown Nashville, that’s not our issue. We do have traffic, we know we have traffic, but it can be better managed,” Schroer said.
Technology and use of flexible work schedules can fix the state’s traffic issues, he said.
From daily observation of TDOT’s efforts here in Nashville, it looks like the primary concern was and is maintaining a silky smooth path from Franklin to Nashville via I-65. Everything else takes a backseat.