Change is on the way for eight Nashville neighborhoods, as part of a revised Metro program.  

Beverly Taylor and family know all too well the trouble on Jones Avenue.  

“It’s a lot of traffic,” she explained. “Very fast, better be careful when you cross the street.” 

But change is on the way. Jones, as part of the Highland Heights Neighborhood, has been chosen for traffic calming measures by Metro Public Works.  

This is the first wave, in a new program.  

“So, we made eight selections really spread out across the city,” said Derek Hagerty, Traffic Calming Program Manager. “We hope to start construction on some of our first ones in 3 to 4 months.” 

Previously, Metro accepted traffic calming requests year-round, which led to the unending backlog.  

They now open two windows per year where applications are accepted, one in the winter, and one in late Summer.  

Neighborhoods are selected based on a number five factors, which include crash history, and speed.  

This week, Public Works announced their first round of neighborhood selections: 

1. Highland Heights  
2. TSU/39th Ave N  
3. Haywood South  
4. Hillwood  
5. Jones Avenue  
6. Caldwell-Abbay Hall  
7. Katie Hill 
8. Belmont-Hillsboro West 

In Highland Heights, speed was a leading factor. Public Works will soon meet with neighbors and community leaders to collaborate.  

“Our next step in the traffic coming program is to meet with the neighborhood, and work with them to create a design that they want to see in their neighborhood,” Derek explained. “Will present them with a menu of options.” 

Those options include increased signage, speed humps, and traffic circles.  One such traffic circle was recently added in 12 south, at 15th and Elmwood.  

“It has definitely slowed traffic down, but sometimes people will just whiz around the corners of the traffic circle. But it’s definitely not as bad,” noted Carol Frazier, who lives off the new road addition. “We have a lot of kids on the street, so we definitely need to be careful.” 

For anyone hoping to see speed reduced in their neighborhood, the next window to apply is open July 8-22.