Metro council special committee hopes to address lack of sidewalks in Nashville

NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) - If you've walked around Nashville, you've noticed the city needs more sidewalks.

A Metro council special committee got the ground work started to address that issue on Monday.

It turns out building those sidewalks is more complicated than you may think.

Metro Public Works builds around three to four miles of sidewalk each year.

A 2017 report found the city needs 1900 more miles of sidewalk.

Right now, Davidson County has over 1,000 miles of sidewalks either done or being built.

News4 spoke with Layla Vartanian who owns a honky-tonk and said the city needs wider sidewalks.

"So, our tourists won't and don't trip over the curbs that are there right now," Vartanian said.

In some neighborhoods, sidewalks suddenly cut off or aren't there at all forcing people to walk on the street.

Metro Council Member Emily Benedict is the chair of a special committee hoping to address those concerns and more.

"Well, the number one thing is where are they and why does it take so long?," Benedict said.

On average, it takes around two years from start to finish to build a sidewalk.

That's because sometimes Metro Public Works needs to build storm drains.

Other times, they have to build a sidewalk on someone's property. That means getting their permission and paying them.

"We all think we need a sidewalk, but really, what do those needs look like? How do we prioritize that based on safety?," Benedict said.

If you want to follow a sidewalk project in your neighborhood, you can. The city has a sidewalks project tracker.