Building bridges
This isn't what you're normally expecting to hear, but I've got some news regarding local bridges that affect us pedalcyclists.
The Demonbreun Street bridge is set to open on Wednesday night. We've been without this bridge for nearly two years after it was deemed unsafe by TDOT. After an $8.3 million rebuild we can finally avoid Broadway in order to ride across the pedestrian bridge over to Shelby Bottoms.
There is going to be a ribbon cutting ceremony at 5:15 PM on Wednesday, October 25th for the re-opening of the bridge. The ceremony will be on the east side, which is behind the Frist Center and next to Cummins Station. Mayor Purcell will be there as well as a brass ensemble from the Nashville Symphony. Walk/Bike Nashville is encouraging all pedalcyclists to show up for the ceremony to show their support.
However.....
I have received news from the Veloteers that the Shelby Bottoms Greenway is closed! I can't find any official information on the Nashville Greenways site, but here is what the Veloteers had to say:
"The Shelby Bottoms Green-way is closed to walking and biking traffic due to construction of the new pedestrian bridge over the river. This bridge will connect the Shelby Green-way to the Two Rivers Park Greenway. When riding from the main Greenway parking area the Greenway is blocked at about the 1.5 mile point. Or just after the paved spur that goes over near the small airport. It is possible to ride all the way to the end by using some of the trails. The grass is cut short and they are rideable on a small tired bike, a bit bumpy, but rideable."
According to Shain Dennison of Nashville Greenways the bridge across the Cumberland River will take approximately 13 months to complete. There could be some delays related to weather, but hopefully in November 2007 we'll have another ribbon ceremony for a bridge opening!
I have not ridden over to Shelby Bottoms lately to verify, and I didn't think to ask Shain when I inquired about the completion date. I am still off the bike for two more weeks, so for now I am going off Veloteers information. Aside from that, this is HUGE news for those of us who live in Donelson and East Nashville. We've been waiting for this bridge to start construction for a long time. It will give countless pedalcyclists the opportunity to quickly go from one side of the city to the other.
Personally, it will allow me to use the Shelby Bottoms side for easy recover rides. For those in East Nashville they'll be able to ride over to the Percy Priest lake and Mt. Juliet areas more often. It'll open up a lot of new riding and training routes for everyone, which is always a good motivator to get on your bike!
The Demonbreun Street bridge is set to open on Wednesday night. We've been without this bridge for nearly two years after it was deemed unsafe by TDOT. After an $8.3 million rebuild we can finally avoid Broadway in order to ride across the pedestrian bridge over to Shelby Bottoms.
There is going to be a ribbon cutting ceremony at 5:15 PM on Wednesday, October 25th for the re-opening of the bridge. The ceremony will be on the east side, which is behind the Frist Center and next to Cummins Station. Mayor Purcell will be there as well as a brass ensemble from the Nashville Symphony. Walk/Bike Nashville is encouraging all pedalcyclists to show up for the ceremony to show their support.
However.....
I have received news from the Veloteers that the Shelby Bottoms Greenway is closed! I can't find any official information on the Nashville Greenways site, but here is what the Veloteers had to say:
"The Shelby Bottoms Green-way is closed to walking and biking traffic due to construction of the new pedestrian bridge over the river. This bridge will connect the Shelby Green-way to the Two Rivers Park Greenway. When riding from the main Greenway parking area the Greenway is blocked at about the 1.5 mile point. Or just after the paved spur that goes over near the small airport. It is possible to ride all the way to the end by using some of the trails. The grass is cut short and they are rideable on a small tired bike, a bit bumpy, but rideable."
According to Shain Dennison of Nashville Greenways the bridge across the Cumberland River will take approximately 13 months to complete. There could be some delays related to weather, but hopefully in November 2007 we'll have another ribbon ceremony for a bridge opening!
I have not ridden over to Shelby Bottoms lately to verify, and I didn't think to ask Shain when I inquired about the completion date. I am still off the bike for two more weeks, so for now I am going off Veloteers information. Aside from that, this is HUGE news for those of us who live in Donelson and East Nashville. We've been waiting for this bridge to start construction for a long time. It will give countless pedalcyclists the opportunity to quickly go from one side of the city to the other.
Personally, it will allow me to use the Shelby Bottoms side for easy recover rides. For those in East Nashville they'll be able to ride over to the Percy Priest lake and Mt. Juliet areas more often. It'll open up a lot of new riding and training routes for everyone, which is always a good motivator to get on your bike!
posted by NashvilleCyclist.com at 10/24/2006 01:26:00 PM
1 Comments:
A slightly modified post that I put up to another forum:
The closure and detour signal the other good bridge news, which I just had confirmed by someone in City Parks. In a previous e-mail I mentioned that a construction crew person on the Demonbreun job said that they were going to be on their next job on the 28th; well, specifically, what they said was that they were scheduled to be on the "Opry Mills job" starting that day. Paired with the clearing I saw them doing a week ago Monday, I thought just maybe that would be the pedestrian/bike bridge connecting the Shelby Bottoms Greenway with the Stones River Greenway that goes all the way out to Percy Priest dam.
It turns out that is actually the case. The same company that did Demonbreun won the Shelby Bottoms bridge contract, and they have now started on the initial earth-moving for it. According to the parks person I just spoke with, it is supposed to move forward on a 400-day schedule, but while able to guarantee nothing, he said the company seemed to fee that if conditions cooperated, they might see a completion time towards the end of summer 2007, far less than 400 days.
In the meantime, what this means for Shelby Bottoms riding is the following:
-- If you must stay on pavement, there is a turn-off that lead up onto Rosebank (via Shadow then left on Colbert), and from which one can then loop around back to the park itself, or connect via normal road to the far end of the park, and the connector trails to Moss Rose Dr, that parallels the river.
--If hard-packed dirt doesn't worry you, then existing dirt greenway paths at that end of the park are to be improved slightly to make them more passable. I'm not sure exactly where they would rejoin the trail, but the existing wide grass paths are pretty visible on maps.google.com (or Google Earth)sat. photos.
So, all in all, for the short term and long term, that construction is great news for riding and recreation. There is a minor non-greenway detour, but it's in low traffic areas and easily navigable. In the long term, the addition of the bridge will make a huge difference as far as access bike-wise to areas east of metro Nashville.
Of course, while we're waiting, there's no reason we can't:
Ride smart, stay safe, have fun.
Sincerely,
Dahron Johnson
Vanderbilt Divinity School
Nashville, TN
e: djcontraption@att.net
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