Study Overview

The freight planning efforts of the Nashville Area MPO are ongoing and largely based on a series of studies being conducted to help integrate freight-related goals into the regional long range transportation planning process.

Building upon the accomplishments of Phase I of the Regional Freight & Goods Movement Study, the Nashville Area MPO is completed an effort to identify and plan for long-term freight needs in the Nashville region. Phase II of the study provided the needed technical tools to help regional partners by:

•Predicting future freight traffic volumes through the year 2035
•Identifying areas likely to see future capacity constraints and infrastructure deficiencies 
•Identifying possible traffic bottlenecks and safety concerns
•Evaluating the costs and benefits of potential improvements

The second phase of the study was also used to develop specific long-range transportation projects, identify potential funding sources for those projects, and evaluate policy-based solutions to accommodate future levels of freight on our regional transportation system while protecting the mobility and safety of the traveling public.

Major Findings

The high volumes of freight moving to, from, within, and through the Nashville region creates many challenges in terms of both maintaining the transportation network and preparing for the continuing growth of freight volumes. The report provides information on the following topics:

-Freight and logistics issues
-Reduced travel times
-Reduced system reliability
-Noise, air, and water pollution
-Incidents and traffic accidents

Recommendations

The Nashville region has a unique position as a transportation crossroads. A thorough inventory of the current freight transportation network provides a base line from which freight flows can be projected into the future. These projected freight flows (i.e. future conditions of the freight network) will reveal information about the routing of freight and its impact to area roadways and how best to address deficiencies of key freight corridors. These results will be presented in Technical Memo #3 – Evaluation of Capacity / Regional Needs Assessment and Technical Memo #4 – Policy and Project Recommendations. These documents will provide the results of analyses conducted to evaluate the region’s ability to meet future freight demand including a detailed assessment of key issues, economic importance, and freight infrastructure operational needs. Once the future analysis is completed, a list of recommendations will be developed that are intended to address the future demands and facilitate a process to screen a broad range of projects, programs, and strategies to accommodate goods movement expansion.