NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A lane of traffic has collapsed on Division Street in The Gulch due to ongoing construction.
The roadway is now down to one lane and drivers are asked to avoid the area near 915 Division Street. Metro Codes has placed a stop work order near the construction.
Adam Intihar — a business owner of Pet Wants Nashville South — said he felt like nothing had gone right with this construction project.
"Owning a business here, you know, you're concerned about our customers, everyone who lives around here," Intihar said. "Since March of last year, this construction has done nothing but hinder all the residents, people with pets, kids, people trying to visit and roads been shut down."
Intihar said the construction in The Gulch has caused him to lose business in an a more extreme manner than the pandemic.
"We survived COVID and everything else, and this so far has done more damage to my business than COVID," he said. "It's been nothing but a headache to just summarize it in the nicest least worded way possible. It’s been nothing but a nightmare and headache, and I can't wait to either be done or go away. Why are we at a loss because of someone else’s gain?"
Metro Councilman Jacob Kupin says he's not surprised by the community reaction to Tuesday's road collapse.
"When something like this happens, residents are heated already and jump into action," Kupin said.
Kupin says when Yates Construction was faced with earlier complaints from neighbors in the last year about loud construction work in the middle of the night, Yates Construction worked with neighbors and moved the work to the daytime.
But Yates has dealt with other construction issues recently, including a nearby crane that structural engineers said in late 2022 had foundation issues.
NewsChannel 5 has reached out to Yates Construction and they said the "area is safe and secure."
A look online shows what the final project on Division Street will look like: a 16-story apartment building with retail space called Society Living, from Property Markets Group.
NewsChannel 5 reached out to Property Markets Group to hear from them about today's road collapse, but they did not immediately respond.
It is not clear how long the roadway will be this way or what crews will do to fix the problem.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
