Electronic Waste Disposal Day

The Beautification Commissioners and Council Members from Districts 18, 24, and 25 are hosting an Electronic Waste Disposal Day on Saturday, April 13th from 9:00am until noon at West End Middle School. This is your opportunity to dispose of unwanted electronics and even prescription drugs. Acceptable items include computers, keyboards, computer cables, hard drives, cell phones, monitors, printers, TVs, microwaves, radios, and rechargeable batteries.

Transit Month

April is Transit Month, which includes events all month to encourage transit ridership. Events include an Art Crawl on April 6, Urban Design Forum on April 9, Progressive Dinner by Bus on April 11, and my favorite, the Transit Night Market on April 19. Neighbors can take transit to shop, sip, and dine under the stars while supporting community organizations at the Farmers’ Market. The number 2, 3, 5, 7, and 17 buses all travel downtown, and from there MTA Circuit buses travel to the Farmer’s Market. The event begins at 6pm at 900 Rosa Parks Blvd. Transit month ends with the Commuter Challenge from April 27 through May 3. WeGo (new name for MTA) is wrapping up Transit Month with a little challenge for Nashvillians. We’re asking commuters to pledge to find another mode of transportation to get to work for just one day during the week. Take the bus, train, walk, bike, or work remotely. Find more info about Transit Month here.

Conference for Neighborhoods

Neighbor 2 Neighbor is hosting a one-day training and networking opportunity for people who want to make a positive difference in their neighborhood. The Conference for Neighborhoods will take place on April 13 at Croft Middle School from 9am to 4:30pm. Topics will include Planning & Zoning, Youth Inclusion, and Making Government Work for your Neighborhood, among many others. Registration is at can be found at the Conference for Neighborhoods website.

Free Tours of Cultural and Historic Landscapes

Over the weekend of April 13-14, free tours of cultural and historic landscapes are being offered by the Cultural Landscape Foundation—tours of such special places as Fisk University, Centennial Park, Music Row, Public Square, Shelby Park and Greenway, The Hermitage, Warner Parks, City Cemetery, Fort Negley, TSU campus, Temple Cemetery, Vanderbilt campus, and many others. The weekend is a program of a non-profit organization, The Cultural Landscape Foundation, and it’s called What’s Out There Nashville. Nashville is the 16th city to participate. We’re following New York, Chicago, Austin, Richmond, San Antonio, New Orleans, Denver, and other major cities. Tours are free, but space is limited, so and registration is required.

Murphy Road Hotel Project

The Murphy Road Hotel project was on public hearing at the Council meeting, Tuesday, April 2. A significant number of people showed up to speak on both sides of the issue. Due to on-going discussions with neighbors, the project has continued to evolve. Concerns about parking and cut-through traffic in neighborhoods had been partially addressed as of the public hearing, and an amendment is expected on third reading April 16 that will address the remaining four outstanding issues of the Richland West End neighborhood. Updated plans and conditions will be made available on the HWEN website.

NFL Draft Event

Downtown Nashville’s Lower Broadway and the area around Nissan Stadium will host free, public activities for the 2019 NFL Draft in Nashville April 25-27. In keeping with our reputation as Music City, this year’s Draft has integrated more free live music than any other. The NFL Draft is a free admission, three-day football festival held outside Nissan Stadium. Representing the largest festival footprint ever created by the NFL, fans can participate in interactive exhibits, immersive games, virtual reality experiences, free player autograph sessions and more. Events begin at 12 noon on Thursday and run through Sunday night at 6 pm. Events include an autograph stage, interactive games, football clinics, digital races with NFL players and lots of food and football related retail. The Draft Main Stage at First and Broadway will be free and open to the public to view Draft selections and the McGraw show. Draft picks on Main Stage will take place evenings of April 25 (Thursday) and April 26 (Friday) and during the afternoon of April 27 (Saturday). The Schermerhorn Symphony Center will be host to Selection Square, which features the team tables where representatives from each club will make their Draft selections. The NFL Draft Red Carpet will take place on April 25 (Thursday) at The Green at Riverfront Park. More information is available here.

As I’m writing this update, the Mayor’s office is still trying to resolve the poorly communicated decision to cut down 21 cherry trees to accommodate the main stage. They’ve heard loud and clear that Nashvillians expect a solution that respects our trees and public spaces. At this point, the 10 trees along First Avenue North will not be cut down or moved. The trees along the Riverfront at the end of Broadway will be moved to fill in gaps in the upper part of First Avenue. I’m continuing to communicate with the mayor’s office as are many other council members. The public input has been instrumental in this process.

Country Music Marathon

The Country Music Marathon will take place the same weekend on Saturday, April 27. Road closings will begin at midnight the night before. The route runs along Music Row, Magnolia, 18th, Portland, Belmont, Clifton, Lealand, Granny White, 12th South, and Wedgewood. Race Planners are expecting more than 30,000 runners.

I-440 Construction Updates

TDOT construction on I-440 continues. Ramp projects at 21st Avenue and Murphy Road are expected to be completed by the end of April with permanent signal upgrades following later in the year. As TDOT begins the work of widening I-440 over I-65, there will be ramp closures in that area from 9pm to 5 am on April 9,10, 16, and 17. All the while, median removal and drainage work will continue through the corridor. Information is available on TDOT’s website.

Metro Budget

The Metro budget process is under way. The mayor is currently holding hearings with each department. The schedule is available by clicking here. The Metro Council will be presented with the Mayor’s budget on May 1.

Belmont Boulevard Traffic Calming

The Belmont Boulevard Traffic Calming Improvements are expected to be implemented this spring, now that road crews can get back to work. The major components are enhancements at intersections and crosswalks to make them safer for pedestrians, and to prevent cars from pulling into bike lanes to get around cars waiting to turn left. Work on the curve of Belmont and Portland will be delayed until the Belmont Performing Arts Center construction is complete.

Metro & I-440 Land Lease

Metro is entering into an agreement with TDOT for a 10 year extendable lease on the triangle of land between I-440 and the Continental just beyond where Fairfax dead ends. This is for the purposes of constructing and maintaining a “greenway” on the 0.51 acre parcel. Among other things that means keeping and improving the existing sidewalk from Fairfax to West End. Future plans are to improve it to greenway standards and ultimately connect it to infrastructure that would tie it to the 440 Greenway. That connection, along with the remainder of the greenway, is still in conceptual design until project funding becomes available. That is all I know for now. As plans shape up, I’ll pass additional information on.

12th Avenue South Updates

The 12th Avenue South complete street project is approaching its final design which were presented at meeting at the end of March. Details are at the Nashville.gov website.

Hazard Mitigation Plans

As part of the overall community planning effort for hazard mitigation, the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee, and the county satellite cities, is looking for public input into the revision of the 2015 Metropolitan Nashville-Davidson County Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan pursuant to the requirements of the Stafford Act, Title 44 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) §201.6.1, and the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-390). Hazard Mitigation is defined as any sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to human life and property from hazards. Hazard mitigation planning is the process through which the hazards that threaten communities are identified, the likely impacts of those hazards are determined, mitigation goals are set, and appropriate strategies that would lessen the impacts are identified, prioritized, and implemented. Hazard mitigation planning is a requirement for state and local governments in order to maintain eligibility for certain federal disaster assistance and hazard mitigation funding programs. Metropolitan Nashville-Davidson County is both a community at risk and a community that has benefited from federal mitigation funding programs. In order to develop a more effective plan, we are taking a comprehensive approach to reducing the effects of disasters and including an open public involvement opportunity for the public to comment on the plan during the drafting stage and prior to plan approval. Please take this opportunity to offer any hazard mitigation concerns, and suggestions to mitigate potential hazards in our area. There will be a public notice sent out for all public meetings and public comment outreach prior to the official approval of the plan. You can take the survey here: Public Input Survey. For more information, contact Heidi J. Mariscal at the Nashville Office of Emergency Management 615-862-8530 or Heidi.Mariscal@nashville.gov.

Reducing Recycling Contamination Audits

Metro Public Works has begun Route audits focusing on reducing recycling contamination – With the recent change in quality of recyclable material China will accept, Nashville and other US cities have focused on decreasing contamination. There has been some concern that this would impact the ability of recycling programs to continue but there continue to be strong markets for clean recyclables. This summer with the support of interns and volunteers, Public Works piloted route audits. Its success led Public Works to start conducting route audits and placing “oops” tags on carts with contamination (mostly plastic bags and plastic bags full of recyclables) on a routine basis. Tagged carts are not emptied until all contamination has been removed. Public Works has also worked to get the word out through press releases and social media.

Plant Swap!

Save the date of May 4 for the HWEN Plant Swap.

In Conclusion

I hope everyone is enjoying the return of warm weather as much as I am. I hope to see you on a greenway or just out and about. Let me know what is on your mind at burkleyforcouncil@burkley.org or 615-383-6604.

Regards, 
Burkley Allen 
Metro Council 18th District