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Nashville Home To 3 Of The Worst Bottleneck Spots In The Country

Posted at 7:35 PM, Jan 27, 2017
and last updated 2017-01-27 20:51:54-05
A report out this week shows three of the worst bottleneck areas in the country are located in Nashville.

The report comes from the American Transportation Research Institute. Staff used GPS data from 600,000 tractor-trailers.

The locations in Nashville that made the top-100 list are:

20. I-24 and I-440
29. I-24 and I-65 
48. I-40 and I-65

"Several of the locations we monitor are in Nashville because you've got a number of interstates coming together there and a lot of truck traffic," said ATRI President and Chief Operating Officer Rebecca Brewster.

Nashville's central location and exploding growth helps. It means the city sees lot of tractor-trailers on the road.

ATRI measures how long they're driving under the speed limit as one of two major factors.

"Congestion is one and then how many trucks are being impacted is the other factor," Brewster said.

Accidents make matters worse. Especially in areas like Trinity Hills where they are common after two major interstates converge.

The three Nashville locations have jumped up between 5 and 15 spots from the year before. And researchers hope that spurs action from local and state leaders.

"Whether it's adding additional capacity, reengineering an interchange or looking for other solutions to the congestion," Brewster said.

Because traffic means time is being wasted. And when time is wasted, so is money for those who use Nashville roads.

ATRI says congestion cost the trucking industry $50 billion last year. They say that could translate to higher prices for consumers on the products they move.