Reintroducing Everyone’s Neighborhood
Coalition launches new concept for the East Bank Transportation Network centering around East Bank Promenade
Written By Veronica Foster | Designs By Eric Hoke and Remi Lynch
5 min read Community members and advocates have been criticizing the discordance between multimodal priorities and the proposed 6-lane highway for the East Bank Blvd. In April 2025, after an East Bank Development Authority survey was released only asking for feedback on their 6-lane concept, 70% of respondents used the write-in text box to say no to 6 lanes and call for no more than 4 vehicle lanes on the boulevard. In May 2025, Southern Environmental Law Center evaluated this survey data and Walk Bike Nashville delivered the results to the EBDA Board during the meeting’s public comment period. The EBDA has not released any of their own reports on the survey and they have not communicated what comes next for the design of the boulevard. However, EBDA CEO Ben York shared that they are working on a data-driven solution with several Metro departments including Mayor’s Office, NDOT, WeGo, and the Choose How You Move teams, but he shared there is not a decision to be made regarding the boulevard design imminently, instead stating it would be sometime in the next year when the data-collection process is complete. It is critical to expand the public dialogue. Groundbreaking is underway this week for S 2nd St, so if we don’t try to align our values with all parties, it might be too late. Read on to learn about our proposal for an East Bank Promenade.
View looking East over the central public space towards new Nissan Stadium
Since the Imagine East Bank Vision Plan was released in 2022, there has been continued debate on the direction of the East Bank Blvd. A group of transportation, urban design and policy experts referring to themselves as Everyone’s Neighborhood Coalition—including the Civic Design Center, Southern Environmental Law Center, Think TN, and Walk Bike Nashville, among a handful of dedicated advocates—has developed a transformative design concept for the transportation network on the East Bank. The East Bank Promenade vision would better align with both the NACTO standards from the Transit Street Design Guide and the Nashville Department of Transportation’s street hierarchy, serving pedestrians first, then cyclists, transit, and finally personal vehicles.
Up until this point, the community has only been presented with a design for the East Bank Blvd that has received overwhelming opposition due to its outdated car-centric transportation network. There were multiple attempts to invite decision makers to meet with this coalition to discuss the design of the East Bank Blvd, which unfortunately didn’t materialize. The group decided to move forward with optimism that an alternative vision centering community input could build positive design consensus. By design, a majority of streets across the city are dysfunctional for pedestrians, unsafe, and aesthetically dismal, while the East Bank is one of our only opportunities to dream big and create something beautiful and functional for all.
Overall, the concept proposes narrowing crossings on the East Bank Blvd to encourage an economic “ping pong” effect where consumers feel comfortable crossing the street at regular intervals to visit more businesses on foot. There aren’t any spans of the street where a pedestrian would be crossing more than two lanes of traffic before encountering a refuge area. Transitioning the bus rapid transit lanes to S 2nd Street–aligning with a Choose How You Move identified all-access corridor and the Connect Downtown Plan—is not only rational, but imperative. Finally, an innovative part of the concept includes a neighborhood-centric pedestrian promenade that references linear open spaces in cities like Savannah or Charleston with a Nashville approach.
Context map highlighting the East Bank’s connections to Choose How You Move and Connect Downtown
Proposed changes for the transportation network
Concept showing S 2nd St plan
Concept showing S 2nd St section
View looking Downtown from new Nissan Stadium’s West entrance
CHANGE #1: Transition Bus Rapid Transit lanes off of East Bank Blvd to S 2nd Street adjacent to the stadium
WHY: Create a better traffic flow due to 2nd St connection to the all-access corridor, Dickerson Pike
Dickerson Pike already has significant density, and based on recent renderings of the Oracle campus showcasing a lower density than originally planned, we should prioritize a continuous line of BRT with a local spur that serves the Oracle campus
By operating the bus lanes on 2nd, there could be an opportunity to avoid reengineering the off-ramp of the vehicle bridge at Korean Veterans Blvd to come to grade with the East Bank Blvd—this saves significant investment and aligns well with Connect Downtown—providing the opportunity to more easily reevaluate the terrifying 8-lane intersection that currently exists at Shelby and 2nd St
This would create an exciting stadium experience where event goers are dropped off right in front of the entrance; this transit orientation would also provide much easier access for the affordable housing development residents at the corner of Shelby and S 2nd
Coplanar street design—which means curb and street are on the same plane—on S 2nd Street will demonstrate an important shift in neighborhood, where all modes share the road, and encourages vehicles to move at a slower pace–however the BRT lanes would likely need a platform for a station in front of the stadium if there is support for that
We also recommend adding a roundabout with public art feature where Spring Street meets S 2nd Street to better move traffic continuously in a transition zone
Concept showing East Bank Boulevard plan
Concept showing East Bank Boulevard section
View looking from the balcony of new Nissan Stadium over the central public space
CHANGE #2: Transition bike lanes off of S 2nd Street to East Bank Blvd, while reducing vehicle lanes on East Bank Blvd to two total—one lane in each direction— and adding street parking with significant bulb-outs or hydraulic bollards at intersections.
WHY: Create a more consistent corridor for cyclists avoiding game day interruptions. We do not need additional bike lanes on 2nd St because a coplanar design means that all modes, including bikes and pedestrians, have equal right-of-way.
Parking adjacent to narrow travel lanes can act as a traffic calming method while also providing some options for street side meal delivery or rideshare in order to avoid traffic blockages
In the event that more lanes are required for emergency vehicles or moving significant traffic, hydraulic bollards could be depressed into the street to create an additional travel lane on stadium event days only
View looking South down the East Bank Promenade
CHANGE #3: Reduce the width of the sidewalk on East Bank Blvd to create a more neighborhood scale street
WHY: This reduces the heat island effect and space saved by this reduction would be transitioned to a center-running pedestrian promenade
This promenade provides the East Bank with a unique opportunity for festivals, pop-up markets and vending, highlighting local entrepreneurs while having a different identity from Lower Broadway
Since the East Bank Blvd is likely where a lot of residential units will be located, this promenade in the right-of-way would be creating a desirable local path with shaded benches
View looking over East Bank’s central public space
CHANGE #4: When the promenade on East Bank Blvd crosses East Bank’s central public space, we propose widening it to gain enough space to house the iconic Red Grooms Tennessee Foxtrot Carousel
WHY: Nashvillians have been asking for the return of the carousel (often when the Mayor is being featured on WPLN’s program, This Is Nashville). By placing it on the promenade, it creates a unique sightline from across the river with the carousel centered in front of the stadium, while still allowing the street to curve around it.
The East Bank Promenade concept that was developed in a coalition of experts and advocates offers the community what they have been asking for—an East Bank neighborhood that doesn’t just move people but invites them to stay. The design is rooted in civic spaces that emphasize the spirit of Tennessee and reminds the public that the East Bank will be everyone’s neighborhood.
Plan view of East Bank’s central public space
SUPPORTERS
This is a list of those that have signed onto this concept. Bold text denotes those who participated in the design charrette.
Organizations + Companies:
Civic Design Center
Kem Hinton Design
Southern Environmental Law Center
Think Tennessee
Walk Bike Nashville
Individuals:
Megan Barrett, 37207
Amy Brown, 37215
Gavin Crowell-Williamson, 37214
Jessica Dauphin, 37221
Winnie Forrester, 37207
Jennifer Foster, 37206
Austin Fausnaught, 37208
Tony Girón, 37203
Aaron Gower, 37206
Allie Harrison, 37206
L.J. Hoke, 37206
Rita Hoke, 37206
Erin Hughes, 37219
Jen Kenealy, 37209
David Kleinfelter, 37215
David Koellein, 37208
Zach Lykins, 37207
Katherine McDonell
Neil Olinski
Peter Robison
Carey Rogers, 37216
Chad Sain, 37208
Kim Shinn, 37205
Frankie Stabile, 37206
DJ Sullivan
Jeremiah Wooten, 37013
We welcome you to sign onto this design concept as an individual, a neighborhood group or an organization. Please fill out this form and we will include your name above.