NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Neighbors along Antioch Pike have weighed in on a project designed to improve safety, mobility, and the environment — it's drawn mixed reactions.

The Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure is working to slow traffic and make streets safer for pedestrians across Metro. That effort includes repurposing used tires as delineators, similar to the ones on Antioch Pike.

"The four-lane road was kind of a nuisance to us," Glencliff resident Alec McCain said. "It was dangerous; it was noisy."

Alec McCain has lived in the Glencliff neighborhood for the last three years, and his biggest concern has always been speeding and pedestrian safety.

"People would speed all the time," McCain said. "It is a 35 mile-per-hour speed limit, but there are constantly people going 50- 60 plus miles per hour — particularly at night time."

In April, NDOT launched a temporary redesign and reduced Antioch Pike from four lanes to two. They used recycled tires to create lane dividers as part of a "tactical urbanism" project, which is a lower-cost way to test street designs before making them permanent.

For McCain, the change has brought peace of mind.

"Now, with having that one-lane buffer between the cars and the sidewalk here on Antioch Pike — it just feels much more safe," McCain said. "I'm able to take my dog and let him on a longer leash. I am able to let my 2-and-a-half-year-old ride his scooter down the road."

Three months into the project, the conversation around their effectiveness has picked up again as NDOT has started maintaining and restriping the area.

"They seem kind of pointless," Glencliff neighborhood resident Cazzie Olko said.

"When I looked out my door, I used to see all my pretty flowers," neighbor Hillary Sims said. "Now I see are these skunky-looking used tires."

Critics of these tire delineators argue that they do little to protect pedestrians and slow down traffic, instead creating a cluttered appearance and exacerbating traffic delays.

"It does not slow down traffic; people stomp on it as soon as they get turned," Sims explained. "A lot of the high school kids walk past every morning. I wave to them. We have sidewalks — really nice sidewalks — all the way up and down on both sides of the street, so if we wanted to do that elsewhere, there aren't sidewalks on any of the other streets."

NDOT explained the one-mile stretch will be studied again six months after installation to assess the delineators' impact and consider a long-term, permanent solution. In the meantime, they have a dedicated webpage for community reviews.

"It's not the prettiest thing to look at, but I've always reminded people that it's a temporary and low-cost way to trial this," McCain said.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/antioch-pike-traffic-project-sparks-debate-among-neighbors/