✈️ What caused the traffic jam at BNA?

🗳️ Early Voting Begins Today!

Early voting starts today for the Tennessee 7th Congressional District special election primary. We’re chatting with three of the Democratic candidates on today’s City Cast Nashville podcast about why they’re running, and their plans if elected. We reached out to more candidates, but they didn’t respond. [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

• Nineteen candidates are running [📰 Hey Nashville]
• Nashville’s early voting locations [nashville.gov]

💸 HIV/Aids Grant Cut

The Trump administration cut a $2 million grant to Meharry Medical College that helped fund its research into why HIV/AIDS disproportionately impacts minority populations. The historically Black medical college had planned to use the grant to fund a lab. [Tennessee Lookout]

🚌 Downtown Traffic Pilot Programs

On Fridays and Saturdays through the end of October, Metro is testing two pilot programs: A protected center lane for emergency response vehicles on Lower Broadway, and a priority lane for WeGo buses running between Commerce and Demonbreun streets, intersecting with Broadway on Fourth Avenue. [The Tennessean]

• Related: Making downtown safer for walkers and bikers [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

✈️ Major Traffic Jam at BNA

On Monday, a vehicular crash on Terminal Drive initiated a severe traffic jam at BNA that lasted nearly eight hours, with passengers missing flights and waiting hours for rideshares. Airport officials, Metro Nashville Police, and the Tennessee Highway Patrol were deployed to help. BNA is investigating why the traffic jam was so extreme. [The Tennessean]

• Did the traffic impact you? Let us know!

I’ve received so many great emails from subscribers in response to local news stories. Here are some of them!

On the local high school changing its school dress code after student pushback, Jane F. says: “I appreciate that students’ concerns were acknowledged and they were included in the process of deciding on a new dress code. Young people learning how to take responsibility for their school is of far greater significance than whether the dress code allows any particular article of clothing.”

We asked on the City Cast Nashville podcast whether bus fare should be free, and Alexa L. gives an enthusiastic yes: “[U]nhoused neighbors, at-risk youth, and underserved populations depend on transit for nearly every aspect of daily life — getting to school, work, medical appointments, or simply accessing food and services. Programs like Walk Bike Nashville’s partnership with WeGo have shown how much mobility can open doors and create equity. A fare-free system would build on that foundation.

“One practical way to help fund it: Create a $5 airport-to-downtown express bus. It would run from the arrivals lane at BNA, stop at a few key downtown hotels for tourists, and generate meaningful revenue — more than double the cost of a standard bus fare — while still being affordable and convenient for visitors and far cheaper than rideshares.”

That idea seems like it would help with BNA’s traffic issues, too!

Jonathan G. had some thoughts about what Nashville could learn from London after listening to our episode on downtown’s “hostile” architecture: “[M]uch of London has hard barriers — concrete strips like curbs or medians — to separate bike lanes from automobile lanes. This is very different to Nashville's painted stripes or flimsy plastic poles, and gives cyclists robust protection. This is something Nashville could easily do, and it would protect cyclists and make our streets feel much more welcoming to cycle traffic.

“Another aspect of London that I would love to see Nashville emulate is the way London has many small, tree-filled city parks with plentiful benches where it is comfortable to sit and read a book, chat with a friend, or just relax and enjoy the greenery. It is striking for a visitor from Nashville to realize how comfortable and inviting London's city parks … are for people who want to sit down and rest or relax.”

Y’all had some thoughts about the East Nashville home that spurred hundreds of hateful comments on social media. Lorraine I. says it’s “Ugly and sad that this monster displaced character and many plants and wildlife. Beginning of the end for sweet East Nashville.” Ruth E. adds, “It’s overbuilt for the neighborhood.”