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[cbalducc]

Right now they are discussing placing a cap on a section of I-40 west of the loop in the vicinity of Dr DB Todd Jr Blvd. in order to reconnect a neighborhood with the Jefferson St corridor.  I’m thinking this will happen, as there doesn’t seem to be any opposition, and the funds will be made available.

What is a “cap”?

[SkyPesos]

The Nashville inner loop would be another candidate for this idea I have of a one way counter clockwise 8 lane loop.

Along with Kansas City and Columbus? I've seen ideas for a "roundabout" loop for those two cities in fictional here before.

Right now they are discussing placing a cap on a section of I-40 west of the loop in the vicinity of Dr DB Todd Jr Blvd. in order to reconnect a neighborhood with the Jefferson St corridor.  I’m thinking this will happen, as there doesn’t seem to be any opposition, and the funds will be made available.

What is a “cap”?

A "bridge" fixture over a freeway providing greenspace to the city, generally done to reconnect parts of a city separated by the freeway when it was constructed.

[hbelkins]

I'm glad I don't have to go through Nashville to get anywhere I might want to go.

Memphis? The Kentucky parkways and US 51.

Alabama? Cumberland Parkway to US 31E, then US 231 through Lebanon and then I-840 to connect with I-65.

[Chrysler375Freeway]

I'm glad I don't have to go through Nashville to get anywhere I might want to go.

Memphis? The Kentucky parkways and US 51.

Alabama? Cumberland Parkway to US 31E, then US 231 through Lebanon and then I-840 to connect with I-65.

What about Knoxville and Chattanooga? And Nashville's traffic is getting worse due to how crowded it's getting. When I was down there last year, it took me longer than usual to get between South Nashville and Downtown than in previous years. Frankly, the infrastructure needs an upgrade sooner rather than later due to how crowded it's getting. Otherwise, when I'm there next time I'm going to take the interstates or the local freeways to get everywhere in Nashville, something I do not want to do because I typically stick to local roads instead of driving on freeways if I'm going anywhere within a municipality. If I was going town to town I would take the Interstates or a parallel route.

[hbelkins]

I'm glad I don't have to go through Nashville to get anywhere I might want to go.

Memphis? The Kentucky parkways and US 51.

Alabama? Cumberland Parkway to US 31E, then US 231 through Lebanon and then I-840 to connect with I-65.

What about Knoxville and Chattanooga? And Nashville's traffic is getting worse due to how crowded it's getting. When I was down there last year, it took me longer than usual to get between South Nashville and Downtown than in previous years. Frankly, the infrastructure needs an upgrade sooner rather than later due to how crowded it's getting. Otherwise, when I'm there next time I'm going to take the interstates or the local freeways to get everywhere in Nashville, something I do not want to do because I typically stick to local roads instead of driving on freeways if I'm going anywhere within a municipality. If I was going town to town I would take the Interstates or a parallel route.

I've traveled I-75 to Knoxville all my life. I dislike that route very much, due to the traffic and the micropassing trucks on the mountain between Caryville and Jellico. The one-lane ramp required to stay on I-75 southbound at I-640 is a bottleneck. (My brother recently returned from a fishing trip to Eufaula, Ala., via I-75, and said it took him an hour to get through Knoxville and the ramp to stay on I-75 northbound was a major choke point.)

I'm also not enamored with I-75 between Knoxville and Chattanooga due to traffic and fog issues.

The last couple of times I've been in Georgia, north of Atlanta, I've used US 411 to get to Knoxville. And the last two times I've been to Chattanooga, I've taken alternate routes. On a trip to clinch US 11 in Tennessee, I used TN 111 to get there. I've also used US 127 southbound to Chattanooga, and US 27 northbound, for clinching purposes.

[Chrysler375Freeway]

I'm glad I don't have to go through Nashville to get anywhere I might want to go.

Memphis? The Kentucky parkways and US 51.

Alabama? Cumberland Parkway to US 31E, then US 231 through Lebanon and then I-840 to connect with I-65.

What about Knoxville and Chattanooga? And Nashville's traffic is getting worse due to how crowded it's getting. When I was down there last year, it took me longer than usual to get between South Nashville and Downtown than in previous years. Frankly, the infrastructure needs an upgrade sooner rather than later due to how crowded it's getting. Otherwise, when I'm there next time I'm going to take the interstates or the local freeways to get everywhere in Nashville, something I do not want to do because I typically stick to local roads instead of driving on freeways if I'm going anywhere within a municipality. If I was going town to town I would take the Interstates or a parallel route.

I've traveled I-75 to Knoxville all my life. I dislike that route very much, due to the traffic and the micropassing trucks on the mountain between Caryville and Jellico. The one-lane ramp required to stay on I-75 southbound at I-640 is a bottleneck. (My brother recently returned from a fishing trip to Eufaula, Ala., via I-75, and said it took him an hour to get through Knoxville and the ramp to stay on I-75 northbound was a major choke point.)

I'm also not enamored with I-75 between Knoxville and Chattanooga due to traffic and fog issues.

The last couple of times I've been in Georgia, north of Atlanta, I've used US 411 to get to Knoxville. And the last two times I've been to Chattanooga, I've taken alternate routes. On a trip to clinch US 11 in Tennessee, I used TN 111 to get there. I've also used US 127 southbound to Chattanooga, and US 27 northbound, for clinching purposes.

Driving on that segment of I-75 that has fog issues makes me nervous because of that 99 car pileup that occurred in 1990, even though I wasn’t even alive then, and that incident makes me drive extremely cautiously when it’s foggy or anytime there’s reduced visibility (i.e. heavy rain) through there. The segment needs to have (at a minimum) three lanes in both directions to handle the traffic. At one point or another, you’re half a mile to the east or west of the opposite lanes, depending on the direction you’re traveling in. For this reason, if I’m heading out west to SoCal by starting south from Philly I use I-95 and then use I-85 down to I-20 in Atlanta, which takes me to I-10 in Texas, where in Arizona I use either I-10 or I-8, depending on which metro I’m going to. However, If I'm making a trip in a truck, I'm using I-10 in lieu of I-8 or I-40 whether I go to LA or San Diego, due to the requirement to chain up through Flagstaff in the winter, and I don't even carry chains in my truck, and high winds through Devils Canyon and In-Ko-Pah Gorge make it extremely difficult to drive on I-8, especially in a tractor trailer.

[Chrysler375Freeway]

So from what I saw, the Downtown Loop (referred to as the Inner Loop by Nashville locals) where Interstates 40, 24, and 65 converge (or a part of parts of it) was considered for removal at one point. If it were to be removed, what would happen to the designations applied to it? And what should be considered other than removal? What would happen to traffic and development in the Nashville area if the Inner Loop was removed entirely?

I'm willing to bet this was never a serious proposal and just a few disgruntled people who live downtown proposing it. As bad as Nashville's freeway system is and how it's so car centric, I would be shocked to see them remove those roads.

I mean, I've driven through the city in a truck, and traffic is worse due to the city being more crowded than in recent years. So many people have moved there lately that when I was down there earlier in the year, it took longer to get to Downtown from South Nashville along Nolensville Pike from Tusculum Road due to the increased loads on Nashville's infrastructure from more people moving in.

[Chrysler375Freeway]

The loop will not be removed.  No one alive today is offended by it.

Right now they are discussing placing a cap on a section of I-40 west of the loop in the vicinity of Dr DB Todd Jr Blvd. in order to reconnect a neighborhood with the Jefferson St corridor.  I’m thinking this will happen, as there doesn’t seem to be any opposition, and the funds will be made available.

As for fixing the loop, I have often thought it should be turned into a giant roundabout, with all lanes going counter-clockwise.  It might make getting through town on I-40 longer, but that’s why I-440 exists.

I don't think removal would gain any traction among the populous or the Federal government, despite the Transportation Secretary saying that racism shaped some urban freeway segments. However, there was a plan in my hometown to remove the downtown segment of the David Dunbar Buick Freeway/UAW Freeway/I-475 as recently as October 2020, and I-375 in the Motor City will no longer exist by 2024. The Flint project may not happen at all.

[skluth]

The loop will not be removed.  No one alive today is offended by it.

Right now they are discussing placing a cap on a section of I-40 west of the loop in the vicinity of Dr DB Todd Jr Blvd. in order to reconnect a neighborhood with the Jefferson St corridor.  I’m thinking this will happen, as there doesn’t seem to be any opposition, and the funds will be made available.

As for fixing the loop, I have often thought it should be turned into a giant roundabout, with all lanes going counter-clockwise.  It might make getting through town on I-40 longer, but that’s why I-440 exists.

I don't think removal would gain any traction among the populous or the Federal government, despite the Transportation Secretary saying that racism shaped some urban freeway segments. However, there was a plan in my hometown to remove the downtown segment of the David Dunbar Buick Freeway/UAW Freeway/I-475 as recently as October 2020, and I-375 in the Motor City will no longer exist by 2024. The Flint project may not happen at all.

There's ample evidence that racism shaped the paths of urban freeways. That doesn't mean the freeways should be removed. Almost all the damage done is from half a century ago and there's little evidence that removing freeways would revitalize an area most of the time. (This is a generality and there are cases where it would and a few - e.g., the Deer District in Milwaukee - where it already has.) I don't consider Nashville's freeways in the category of freeways that should be removed regardless of history though there's always a radical urbanist  in every community who thinks such idiocy is a splendid idea.

Sadly there are few places where either loop around downtown Nashville could easily be capped for more than a short distance. However, there's quite a bit of depressed freeway along I-440 between Richardson Av and Granny White Pike where a couple caps could be built; this would be an ideal location for a cap park or two as much of the land around this segment is residential.

[Bobby5280]

There's ample evidence that racism shaped the paths of urban freeways. That doesn't mean the freeways should be removed. Almost all the damage done is from half a century ago and there's little evidence that removing freeways would revitalize an area most of the time.

Yes, removing freeways alone will do literally nothing to reverse the effect on minority neighborhoods. That's because so many institutionalized practices are still in place to maintain the status quo and keep the low income people "in their place." The widespread prevalence of "R1" zoning (detached single family homes only) across most residential areas is one issue. Gentrification in trendy city centers is another problem. There is a fundamental lack of variety in housing types and lack of variety in levels of affordability across too many cities and towns.

New Urbanists can tear out freeways and replace them green space, coffee shops and condos. But the effort won't do a damned thing for people in the lower income class levels. And if the effort does positively transform the neighborhood the thing likely to happen now is all the low income "riff raff" gets pushed out of the area. Service industry businesses are suffering all kinds of labor shortages. Everyone still thinks the problem is lazy people who don't want to work. They're not doing any financial math to see if the wages being offered in those service jobs are survivable in those locations.