National transportation experts have delivered a series of recommendations aimed at accelerating the implementation of Nashville’s voter-approved Choose How You Move transportation improvement program, a $3.1 billion initiative designed to modernize the city’s transportation network and improve mobility for residents.
AmericaFWD’s Project Delivery Accelerator Lab conducted a three-day technical assistance workshop with Metro Nashville officials and transportation leaders. The effort focused on identifying strategies that can help move projects from planning to construction more efficiently while maximizing the impact of public investment.
More than 30 city officials, agency representatives and program leaders participated in discussions covering project planning, engineering and design, procurement, construction, right-of-way acquisition and community engagement. The sessions were designed to build a comprehensive understanding of the processes, benchmarks and coordination needed to successfully deliver the program’s extensive portfolio of transportation projects.
At the conclusion of the workshop, AmericaFWD presented a series of findings and recommendations intended to help Nashville accelerate implementation of the transportation plan approved by voters.
Among the key recommendations were leveraging the public mandate behind the program to advance transformative infrastructure improvements, increasing internal project management capacity to keep pace with a growing project pipeline, and structuring project delivery into phased increments to maintain steady construction momentum while managing costs and resources effectively.
AmericaFWD also recommended incorporating advanced technology systems early in the planning and design process to streamline delivery timelines and improve long-term coordination across projects. Additionally, the organization emphasized the importance of strengthening community engagement efforts and ensuring public outreach remains integrated throughout the life cycle of each project.
“Nashville voters asked us to fundamentally change how this city moves, and we take that seriously,” said Sabrina Sussman, chief program officer for Choose How You Move. “Bringing AmericaFWD here to work side by side with our partner agencies means their recommendations are grounded in our real challenges, our real partnerships and our real timelines. The expertise they bring and the national perspective they carry will sharpen how we deliver and strengthen how we coordinate. We’re grateful AmericaFWD invested three days in Nashville, and we’re committed to making the most of our learnings.”
Roger Millar, director of AmericaFWD’s Project Delivery Accelerator Lab and former Washington State Secretary of Transportation, praised the collaboration among Nashville’s agencies and stakeholders.
“What we witnessed over the last three days is the hard work of aligning procurement, utility and engineering teams who respect the complexity of this work and are focused on execution,” Millar said. “Collaboration with partner agencies, utilities, the business community and the public is also at the forefront. AmericaFWD’s role is to inject hard-won national lessons and concrete delivery expertise into Nashville’s strategy, helping the city avoid typical delivery pitfalls, maximize federal matching dollars and accelerate project timelines.”
Millar added that Nashville has the leadership, partnerships and technical foundation necessary to successfully deliver on the promises made to voters.
Choose How You Move represents one of the largest transportation investments in Nashville’s history. The program includes improvements designed to create safer streets, modernize traffic signals, expand sidewalks and implement Complete Streets projects that accommodate motorists, pedestrians, cyclists and transit users.
City leaders say the recommendations provided by AmericaFWD will help strengthen coordination among agencies and ensure the program continues moving forward efficiently as Nashville works to address growing transportation demands and improve connectivity across the city.
The three-day workshop is part of ongoing efforts to ensure the voter-approved transportation initiative delivers long-term benefits for residents while maintaining accountability and transparency throughout the implementation process.
