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In the heart of Nashville’s interstate system where three major highways converge, it’s easy to get caught in heavy congestion.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation calls this network of roadways Nashville’s Inner Loop. According to TDOT, traffic slows to an average of 10 mph in both directions along some stretches of I-65, I-440 and I-24/40 during the evening commute from 4-6 p.m. The morning commute window’s a little better, but TDOT’s data still shows that traffic is slowed to a crawl in several areas.
Traffic pains are nothing new there. Nashville has for several years been home to some of the worst trucking bottlenecks in the country. TDOT has been pursuing its “choice lanes” project, which aims to alleviate highway congestion by way of optional, dynamically priced toll lanes allowing drivers to pay a fee for a faster trip, along a 26-mile stretch of I-24 between Nashville and Murfreesboro since 2024.
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More solutions than that could be on the way, but what exactly they might end up being won’t be clear for a while. They’ll instead come about as a result of TDOT’s latest public information push in Nashville.
TDOT has begun sharing information about its Nashville Inner Loop Planning and Environmental Linkages Study, in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration, which aims to evaluate potential improvements to the interstate network surrounding the core of downtown Nashville along approximately 32 miles of I-24/40, I-440 and I-65.
“It’s where we saw the most congestion, heavy traffic volumes, and we knew that we needed a holistic approach of how to tackle that problem of congestion and operational deficiencies, (like) quick merging and choke points on the interstate,” TDOT project spokesperson Erin Zeigler said.
The process is only just beginning. Nashvillians had their first opportunity to learn about the study at a public meeting on the Tennessee State University campus July 20, and the first round of public comment on the issue is open now through Aug. 11.
But for now, there’s no tangible work waiting to begin. The study’s timeline targets a final version of the study by spring of 2027, after which Zeigler said the study team will be able to publish preferred options for future improvements based on the feedback gathered through the rest of this year.
It’s at this point in the timeline, Zeigler said, that Nashvillians will have the chance to shape the future of the Inner Loop.
“This is a way to kick-start the process, because our study team will submit all of this to the Federal Highway Administration,” Zeigler said. “It takes a really long time, so we knew that we need some options sooner rather than later and this is a way to start that process.”
This isn’t the only study of its kind focused on Nashville. TDOT’s also preparing to launch a planning and environmental linkages study along a roughly 34-mile stretch of the I-65 corridor between Thompson Lane in Davidson County to the Bear Creek Interchange in Williamson County.
Austin Hornbostel is the Metro reporter for The Tennessean. Have a question about local government you want an answer to? Reach him with questions, tips and story ideas at [email protected].
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TDOT looking for ways to fix Nashville's inner loop interstates
