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City officials announced Friday a policy that, once approved by the Metro Council, will restrict the closure of street lanes, bike paths and sidewalks for construction purposes.  

According to a release, the Multimodal Access Closure Policy sets a seven-day maximum permit length for construction-related closures of “multimodal infrastructure across the city” for projects that have not implemented solutions — such as scaffolding structures over sidewalks — related to keeping public rights-of-way open.

The policy applies to all new permit requests, as well as to those seeking to renew expiring permits. It also allows developers and contractors who maintain a longer-term closure is necessary for the completion of construction activities to seek a variance.

The release does note enforcement details, including fines.

Metro Council legislation related to the Multimodal Access Closure Policy will be finalized in the coming weeks and will include oversight related to other right-of-way-closure factors, such as special events.

In addition to regulations limiting the length of construction-related street lane and sidewalk closures, Nashville Department of Transportation Director Diana Alarcon said NDOT has added 16 right-of-way inspectors this year, a move that has more than doubled the level of enforcement in the city, the release notes.

“Making Nashville a more walkable [and] bike-friendly city for all neighborhoods is critical for a city on the move like ours,” Mayor John Cooper said in the release. “These new regulations will ensure that as Nashville grows, constructions projects can no longer keep sidewalks and bike lanes closed for weeks and weeks at a time.

“Protecting Nashvillians’ ability to safely and easily travel around town is essential, and through today’s policy change and eventually additional Council legislation, we will dramatically reduce the amount of time development project sites can obstruct the public right-a-way without a plan to protect pedestrians and cyclists.”

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