NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Mayor Cooper addressed community concerns over how his bold “Imagine East Bank” plans will benefit the overall city, pointing to the mixed-use development facing the Cumberland River as being a central hub for transportation.
Mayor Cooper says the project will make travel to and from North and East Nashville easier and reduce the need for local interstate travel. It will also create opportunities for cyclists, walkers and runners and improve regional connectivity creating new opportunities for neighborhoods.
Nashville Department of Transportation as well as Metro Transit Authority officials joined the mayor on the future site of the new North Nashville Transit Center.
“This here will be an important node on a network that is being built in part very important for the East Bank because the East Bank is going to provide other important nodes to the network that is being built. The East Bank allows you connectivity particularly with transportation to accelerate the utility of all that work for the city of Nashville,” Cooper explained.
Alex Smith lives in the area and has been using Metro’s public transit system for about a decade.
“I’ve lived in this area for about 10 years, it’s a great area, you know. I like the development they are doing in Nashville, especially with transit,” Smith told News 2.
It’s a system Smith has witnessed evolve and expand over the years along with the growth of the city.
“It’s more easy than it normally would be back in the day, they have got way better,” he said.
Smith was excited to learn of the new WeGo development breaking ground in the coming weeks at 26th Avenue North and Clarksville Highway with an air-conditioned waiting room, restrooms, wi-fi and multiple bus bays connecting several routes across town.
“Cool you can sit back in the air, enjoy yourself ’til your ride come.”
Once completed, city officials say there will be seven bus routes that intersect at the north transit center, providing more direct routes across the city.
“It’s great for us to have something new in Nashville it’s great for the community, for the people. I like that,” said Smith.
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Officials are planning to break ground in the next five or six weeks on the new Ernest Rip Patton North Nashville Transit Center.
