NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Thursday is your last chance to give input on proposed toll lanes. The Tennessee Department of Transportation calls these lanes "Choice Lanes."

They are the state's first-ever toll lane project and TDOT plans to install them along 26 miles of Interstate 24 from Nashville to Rutherford County. The state opened public input to the project last month.

"What we're doing right now is gathering input and feedback from community members, and all of that is used and goes toward our environmental assessment,"  TDOT's Public-Private Partnerships Communications Officer, Rebekah Hammonds, explained.

To help share the plan's details, TDOT held three community meetings in September and October, during which residents could ask questions and express concerns.

"People obviously have mixed emotions," Hammonds said. "We are hearing a lot of concerns about construction impacts."

The deadline to submit feedback is Thursday. News 2 reached out to Metro Councilmembers to hear what their constituents have told them about the plans.

"I have not heard from any constituent that is in support of these 'Choice Lanes,'" Metro Councilmember Ginny Welsch said.

Welsch represents the 16th district, where she told News 2 many residents are worried about noise and how close the new lanes could be to their homes.

"I have heard from others in a relatively-new development here in the district who just recently bought their homes who just found out — new being new to the district — that this is coming, and it is literally going to be in their backyard," Welsch said. "It's elevated highway lanes that are literally going to be in their backyard."

Meanwhile, Metro Councilmember David Benton said the feedback has been more mixed in District 28.

"[There are] just some doubts, and I don't blame them," Benton said. "That is where I came in when I was starting to review the project. Then for those who got more of the details of how it's going to work, they think, 'Well, here is an opportunity to solve a nightmare traffic problem on I-24.'" 

Benton said his community just wants to see something done about daily traffic gridlock.

"In general, it is just constant feedback from people that this wait and the quagmire of traffic, and I think we have all been in it and seen it," Benton said. "It is just nightmarish, and we have got to do something."

On Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., the Glencliff Neighborhood Group has asked a representative from TDOT to talk through questions and concerns. They will be meeting at Dozen Bakery on Grandview Avenue.

If you have not been able to attend any of the in-person meetings, you can submit questions or comments on TDOT's page. A TDOT representative told News 2 that they would post a summary of the feedback they received within two weeks.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/tdot-choice-lanes-deadline/