(The Center Square) – A Nashville referendum that will add an additional 0.50% sales tax to help fund $3.1 billion in transit work will be on the Nov. 5 ballot after the Davidson County Election Commission approved the measure.
That approval came after the Metro Council voted unanimously to approve the ballot language.
“Nashvillians, we’ve heard you,” Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell said. “We can do better than our current transportation reality. For a decade, we conducted more than 70 transportation plans that got more than 66,000 opinions from residents. It’s time to stop planning. It’s time to start doing.”
The city is hoping to receive $1.4 billion of federal funding toward transit projects over the next 15 years. If the transit proposal passes, the tax will begin on Feb. 1, 2025.
The project would include everything from sidewalks, signals and street work to corridor and transit improvements across the city.
The project will add 86 linear miles of sidewalk along with 592 new or upgraded traffic signals.
The designated transit corridors will put dedicated transit-only lanes in strategic locations on 10 of the city’s most used roadways on areas such as Murfreesboro Pike, Gallatin Pike, Nolensville Pike, Dickerson Road, West End, Charlotte Pike and Bordeaux/Clarksville Pike.
The Choose How You Move project includes 12 modern transit centers, 17 Park & Ride facilities and double the hours of our high-frequency daily service and increase total bus service by almost 80%.
