After Backlash, Mayor Extends Charlotte Light Rail Plan To WBR

NASHVILLE, TN -- After Mayor Megan Barry announced her $5.4 billion plan to improve transit in Nashville, one of the most widely heard criticisms was that the light-rail plan for Charlotte Avenue did not go far enough, literally.

The original plan had the rail line stopping between Metro's Lentz Health Center and Interstate 440, short of the most populated corridors on Charlotte near The Nations, Sylvan Heights and Sylvan Park. It would have also not served a number of mixed-use developments already in place and those in the pipeline.

Barry announced Wednesday the proposed line will now extend two more miles to White Bridge Road.

The mayor's office said funds for the two extra miles are available because of better-than-expected revenues generated by surcharges at First Tennessee Park and the Music City Center, which frees up sales tax revenue for projects elsewhere.

Kathleen Murphy, who represents Sylvan Park, and Mary Carolyn Roberts, whose district includes The Nations, had both been critical of the original plan because of the Charlotte line's shortcomings, but in a press release issued by the mayor's office, both urged voters to support May's transit referendum.

Image via Office of the Mayor