City leaders said that they’re working on a way to keep everyone safe while still allowing visitors to enjoy Music City.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Downtown Nashville is supposed to be the place where the party never stops, but safety concerns around lower Broadway have been revived after a series of pedestrian crashes. City leaders said that they’re working on a way to keep everyone safe while still allowing visitors to enjoy Music City.
It was a heartbreaking headline for Metro Councilmember Jacob Kupin.
“These are people that are obeying the law, are doing what they’re supposed to be doing [and] are using the infrastructure as provided,” Kupin told News 2.
On Thursday, 66-year-old Leroy Wienke of Wisconsin died when a car slammed into him on the sidewalk. Three other people were also injured in the crash. Twenty-five-year-old John Williams was arrested for vehicular homicide.
“They don’t remember Nashville, Tennessee as a place where they had a great time,” Kupin said. “They remember it as a place where they lost their loved one.”
Then early Saturday morning, 58-year-old Michael O’Connell of New Jersey was hit while crossing at 12th Avenue and Broadway.
“We see people running red lights [and] we see people speeding,” Kupin said. “The person that hit the individual in the crosswalk was revving his engine and speeding prior to the crash.”
City leaders have said that overall, Nashville is down in pedestrian deaths.
The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) previously told News 2 that in 2022, there were 48 pedestrian traffic fatalities. That number, they said, dropped to 39 the following year.
“We know that MNPD and the traffic division are eight officers short of their goal, so we know that there’s a staffing shortage,” Kupin said. “We know there’s a resource shortage, but to me, I just can’t stand by and watch another person die without taking action.”
Kupin added that he’s working with the MNPD to increase their presence downtown so that pedestrians can feel truly safe under the bright lights of Broadway.