NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Federal officials have approved Tennessee's controversial I-24 Choice Lanes project, clearing the way for toll lanes to be added between Nashville and Murfreesboro — even as some South Nashville residents learn their properties could be in the path of the $5 billion plan.
The Federal Highway Administration recently issued a Finding of No Significant Impact, or FONSI, for the project, meaning it will not require a more extensive federal environmental review.
The project would add two toll lanes in each direction along a roughly 26-mile stretch from downtown Nashville to Interstate 840 near Murfreesboro. Drivers could choose to pay to use the express lanes, while existing lanes would remain free.
TDOT says the Choice Lanes are intended to improve traffic flow and provide more reliable travel times along one of Middle Tennessee's busiest corridors. The project will also be built through a public-private partnership, with a private company eventually responsible for designing, building, financing, operating and maintaining the toll lanes.
Some South Nashville property owners have already received letters from the state saying the proposed project could impact their land. Some businesses along the corridor could also be affected depending on the final design. Nashville Metro Council Member Ginny Welsch says her district alone could lose more than 30 homes.
"It's just a gut punch for people," Welsch said.
Welsch says the stakes are especially high for families who have built their financial futures around homeownership.
"Your wealth is tied up in your home. Homeownership is huge for that. And so people are very concerned that they're going to be losing their greatest source of wealth and not have any recourse," Welsch said.
Welsch says the impact spans a wide range of residents.
"Some of these residents have been living in their homes for 30 and 40 years. Some of them just bought their home within the last four or five years. They're very upset, especially because they're going to be eminent-domaining the homes, basically," Welsch said.
TDOT says no final eminent domain actions have been taken.
State Representative John Ray Clemmons says constituents are also contacting him with concerns.
"I know a young woman who lives over in the Glencliff neighborhood just outside of my district. She saved up for years to buy her first home as a single young woman. And she's owned this home for about two years, and now they're gonna take it and tear it down just to build these toll lanes," Clemmons said.
Welsch says the project is being driven by the state, not the city.
"This is something the state is doing. This is not something that Nashville asked for. This is not something that Nashville feels like it needs," Welsch said.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation says the Choice Lanes are designed to reduce congestion and that it will work to minimize impacts to homes and businesses whenever possible. TDOT also says the letters sent to property owners are not eminent domain notices, and no final property acquisitions have been made yet.
The state has not yet selected a private developer for the project.
"So I would like people to stand up and let their opposition be known to this so that the incoming governor is well aware of opposition to this as well. And that, you know, if they're gonna do these types of things to our communities and divide us and tear down our homes that we work so hard to purchase, that we're not gonna take it," Clemmons said.
Clemmons is encouraging residents to attend Wednesday's Transportation Modernization Board meeting, where the public will have an opportunity to comment on the Choice Lanes project. The meeting starts at 1:45 p.m. at the Tennessee Tower on Rosa L. Parks Boulevard in downtown Nashville and will also be livestreamed online.
The federal notice also says any legal challenges to the approval must be filed before Jan. 14.
Groundbreaking is tentatively scheduled for 2027, with the lanes expected to open in 2032.
If you live in South Nashville and have received one of these letters — or support the project—You can email me at Patsy.Montesinos@Newschannel5.com
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