NEWS

Mayor Barry commits to light rail on Gallatin Pike, kicks off public vote for funding transit

Joey Garrison
USA Today Network - Tennessee
Mayor Megan Barry does a sound check before delivering her second State of Metro address Wednesday, April 26, 2017, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

Mayor Megan Barry on Wednesday kicked off a legacy-defining campaign to urge Nashville voters to approve funding for a comprehensive transit system and committed to moving ahead with light rail on East Nashville's Gallatin Pike as the first spoke of a $6 billion multi-decade regional effort.

Barry used her second annual State of Metro address, held outside Bridgestone Arena, to say she intends to take the necessary steps to hold a Davidson County public referendum in 2018 on dedicated funding for transit. She called on Nashvillians to get behind her push.

She also went one major step further, identifying Gallatin Pike, which stretches from downtown as Main Street through East Nashville, Madison and Rivergate, as the corridor where her administration will begin work on a new light-rail system. Light rail involves electric urban trains that run on exclusive right of way.

Declaring “the time to get started is now,” Barry acknowledged some might debate where to build high-capacity transit first but said Gallatin Pike carries the most mass transit riders in the region. She said the corridor is also ripe for transit-oriented development, has an extensive network of surrounding sidewalks, and cuts through neighborhoods that have shown support for mass transit in public surveys.

“We have plenty of work to do before we send that first train down the line,” Barry said in her speech, adding the process won’t be quick or easy and it will include some hiccups, headaches and arguments.

“We’ll have to have honest conversations, and some people aren’t going to be happy with every decision,” she said. “But it’s time to get moving. We have to move forward. We have to act now to prevent congestion from threatening our prosperity and compromising our quality of life.”

Gallatin Pike would be part of light-rail network

Barry framed light rail on Gallatin Pike as just one of five corridors where she wants to build light rail. Others are Charlotte Pike, Murfreesboro Pike, Nolensville Pike and the Northwest corridor, which would go from North Nashville to Clarksville and involve commercial rail.

“We’re working on preliminary plans for all of them,” she said. “But we cannot break ground on every corridor simultaneously, and we cannot wait another year to start the process of building our first light rail.”

Each of these streets connect residential communities to downtown and are identified in Middle Tennessee’s $6 billion, 25-year nMotion regional transit plan, which was adopted by the Metro Transit Authority and Regional Transportation Authority boards last year.

Read more:

Barry ramps up pitch for transit funding referendum; eyes ballot in '18

Nashville mayor to lean on state for transit funding tools

Mayor Barry: How to pay for transit is the challenge

Metro recommends $6 billion transit plan for Nashville region

Details for light rail on Gallatin Pike — including a price tag, length of the route and timeline for implementation — aren't finalized. Preliminary design work has already occurred. The next phases are more intensive design and planning, as well as land acquisition.

Barry's focus on Gallatin Pike, which enters downtown from the east, comes more than two years after then-Mayor Karl Dean retreated on plans for his bus rapid transit project called the Amp, which was proposed for Broadway and West End Avenue but also would have extended into East Nashville.

The Amp faced a backlash in some of Nashville’s most affluent areas near West End. In Gallatin Pike, Barry has selected a more working-class part of town, one packed with pawn shops, auto repair stores and fast-food joints that is flanked by some of the city’s most gentrifying neighborhoods.

East Nashville Councilman Brett Withers, whose district includes part of the proposed light-rail route, said he believes his constituents will support Barry's plan. He said East Nashvillians, by and large, supported Dean's Amp proposal.

"No area of the city was more disappointed that it didn't go through than East Nashville," Withers said. "So, I think a lot of our constituents and business owners and property owners will really look forward to it and really embrace it."

Barry moving quickly after local-option passage in Haslam's IMPROVE Act

But others are still skeptical whether light rail is the right fit.

“There’s so many other little niche transportation options: Uber, Lyft and those little golf cart things are everywhere," said Scott Deshon, owner of Eastside Cycles on Main Street. "Obviously there’s a need to get people around the city, but I don’t know if a little light rail is the answer.”

Barry’s pursuit of a referendum on dedicated funding for transit comes only days after the Tennessee General Assembly approved Gov. Bill Haslam’s IMPROVE Act. Haslam signed the legislation on Wednesday. The legislation gives Nashville and other municipalities the authority to hold public referendums on adding surcharges to a range of tax streams specifically for transit projects.

“Before we can build the transit system that Nashville needs, we’ve got to get the funding, and today is the kickoff,” said Barry, who thanked Haslam and lawmakers who supported the plan.

Read more:  nMotion transportation report

If approved by the voters in 2018, dedicated transit funding would go to pay off debt for the Gallatin Pike project and create recurring, annual revenue that could be used for other portions of the nMotion plan. In an interview with reporters, Barry did not say what would happen with the Gallatin Pike project if the referendum were voted down.

Potential tax revenue options for transit granted in the IMPROVE Act include sales tax, property tax, business tax, motor vehicle tax, local rental car tax, tourist accommodation tax, residential development tax and a special tourist development zone tax.

As one example, a half-cent increase on sales in Davidson County would have generated $67.7 million in 2015, according to a recent report funded by the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce.

Barry did not identify which revenue streams she will bring to the voters as part of the transit funding plan, nor did she say how much she hopes to generate annually.

The referendum is expected to have support from transit advocates, including the chamber of commerce, whose transit arm, Moving Forward, offered praise Wednesday.

"After 18 months of planning, the time is right to begin work on the first project, a light-rail line," said Gary Garfield, former CEO of Bridgestone Americas and chairman of Moving Forward. "Now that the necessary state legislation has been approved, voters will have the chance to support local dedicated funding for transit next year to make projects a reality."

Barry's funding proposal could face competing referendum 

It is still unclear which of three elections in 2018 — one in May, August and November — Barry is eyeing for the referendum. Based on historical data, the November election, which features a competitive Tennessee governor’s race, will likely have the most voters. The May election would likely have the least.

Although Barry could choose to launch a signature petition drive to trigger the referendum, it is more likely her administration will seek Metro Council approval to add the measure to the ballot.

Read more:

Nashville debt limit referendum poses threat to transit funding hopes

Gov. Haslam plan would allow local referendums for transit funding

Nashvillians back higher tax for transit by 2-to-1 margin, poll finds

Middle Tennessee leaders adopt $6B regional transit plan

Barry’s referendum campaign comes amid a competing effort. Anti-tax crusader Ben Cunningham plans to launch a petition drive to hold a referendum in the November 2018 election on capping Metro’s debt — a proposal he’s pushing, in large part, to try to stop an expensive regional transit system from taking form.

Historically, public referendums on transit have a mixed track record of both passing and failing elsewhere in the U.S., but transit projects found widespread support during the most recent November election. Voters in Atlanta; Indianapolis; San Jose, Calif.; Raleigh, N.C.; Portland, Ore.; Charleston, S.C.; and elsewhere each passed referendums focused on transit funding.

For Barry, the transit referendum will come just one year before her re-election date in August 2019.

Transit referendum could rank among Nashville's most momentous public votes

There’s evidence to suggest her campaign is starting off at a solid position.

A poll last month from Vanderbilt University found that 63 percent of Nashvillians would be willing to pay 25 cents more on sales tax for every $100 if the extra money went toward improving public transportation. Thirty-five percent said they would not be willing, while 3 percent said they either didn’t know or refused to answer.

Barry’s vote on transit funding will be one of the most closely watched, and perhaps contentiously fought, Nashville referendums in years. Other top public votes include the 2009 English-only proposal, which was voted down, and the 1996 measure to fund an NFL stadium for the then-Houston Oilers, which was approved. The forming of Metro government in 1963 also came via referendum.

Barry, declaring "We will be a 21st-century, transit-oriented city," finished her remarks by recounting that history.

“Whether it was creating a new kind of government, saying no to the forces of hate and division, or becoming a major league sports city — when given a chance to vote, Nashvillians have said yes, we will do it,” Barry said.

“When faced with decisions about Nashville’s growth, we’ve always made the right choice and we will do it again, together.”

Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236 and on Twitter @joeygarrison.