More than 30,000 cars drive through Hillsboro Pike in Green Hills every day, but plans have been made to help with congestion and make the area better for pedestrians and bicycles.
"Oh it's awful," said Linda Southwick, as she looked around at the traffic.
Southwick navigates the sidewalks with a cane as cars zoom by along Hillsboro Pike around twice a week.
"It's really tough especially for someone like me," she said. " I'm legally blind and sometimes I have a hard time walking in certain places."
That's just one of the many obstacles people find in getting around Green Hills. Transportation in the area is the subject of a transportation summit this weekend.
"It's grown!" said 40-year resident and Alliance for Green Hills President Ed Cole, who is helping organize the summit, "and as it's grown it's become a lot more congested."
Straightening out strange and close-together intersections is a big priority to cut down on congestion.
"A ten year old could figure that out, just from standing here looking at the intersection," said Metro Councilman Russ Pulley, pointing out the tight intersections at Glen Echo and Crestmoor on Hillsboro Pike.
Metro Council is in the process of trying to take the nearby CVS propoerty by eminent domain after negotiations to buy the lot broke down. A second reading on the proposal will happen in March.
"Anything we can do to lighten that load, and these are significant measures toward that end," Pulley said.
Pulley says the hope would be to take Crestmoor and turn it through the current CVS parking lot to meet Glen Echo and create one intersection where there currently is two. That would eliminate the need for a second light and extremely short turn lane.
Down the road the $100 million, 17-story project dubbed 4000 Hillsboro will finish in December. With it, developers promise better crosswalks and sidewalks in the area.
"Our survey that we'll be revealing tomorrow that about a thousand people answered make it clear that many people feel that pedestrian capability is part of the solution," Cole said.
And instead of a small bus shelter with a bench, you may one find a full transit hub in front of Hillsboro High School within the next two years as part of the Hillsboro High renovation.
"Where you can access the new routes of MTA downtown, to the airport, across town," Cole listed.
They hope the plans ensure that as Green Hills continues to grow it does so in a way that keeps it a desirable place to live and spend time.
Funding for every project won't come from the city. Some are pushing for a business improvement district to get local business owners to help fund future projects.
You can attend the transportation summit Saturday at 10 am to hear from local officials about the plans. It's at the Lipscomb University business center in Stowe Hall.
