NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — For the past three weekends, Broadway has been closed to vehicles to help people socially distance, and the results have some experts saying this could be a good sign of things to come.
During that time, crowds have packed Broadway between 4th and 5th Street, but Metro officials say they haven’t had nearly as many issues with compliance.
One reason for that is Metro Public Health says more people have been willing to wear masks or accept a mask from any number of officers handing them out.
Metro Nashville Police Department officials have still been forced to issue citations, but they say over the past three weekends, they haven’t had any noticeable changes compared to a typical Broadway weekend. And the Metro Public Health Department said they haven’t written any citations to restaurants or bars in that area during that same time.
The pilot program was designed to give people more room to walk and free up otherwise congested sidewalks.
Hugh Atkins of Metro Public Health says he’s encouraged to see people choosing to be responsible with the space they're offered.
”Now, the calls are down. We’re just seeing a higher level of compliance with all the social distancing and the masks because we’ve just been doing it longer," Atkins said.
Atkins says every week they determine if they should continue to close down this block of Broadway to traffic. He says as long as they have the resources and they know we can expect large crowds, they will continue these closures on the weekends.
Cornelius Smith works for Lucky Bastard Saloon and says bars have welcomed the increase in foot traffic. To help accommodate as many people as possible, Smith says the bar has flipped some of their speakers to face the street. The subtle, if not effective strategy turns indoor gigs into outdoor concert.
"Now people have a chance to either come in or dance on the street," Smith said.
If it were up to Smith, the decision to continue these Broadway closures seems simple. Knowing we've made it work before, he says let's make it work again.
"It's been wonderful and if we continue, I think it will stay wonderful," Smith said.
