Connecting to the River

At last night's forum, Riverfront Redevelopment Designers said that the primary obstacle to "reconnecting" Nashville's neighborhoods with the river is the sharp drop of the banks from ground level to the shore. I was surprised to find out last night that there are currently only 4 places along the redevelopment area where Nashvillians can literally walk down a bank and touch the river. They are: the Shelby Park boat ramp, Riverfront Park (if you are daring), the East Bank Greenway, and the East Bank near the I-65 Bridge. If people are to feel a connection with the Cumberland, according to the Design Team, more access points must be created.

Both plans would create multiple marinas and landings for that connection, including an East Germantown landing in the North End. The "Island Plan" (cutting the arterial channel east of LP), would create a recreational waterway and marina off the main shipping channel and landings for Cayce (south), Edgefield, and Ellington (north). In the process of digging the channels, crews would be creating more flood space for waters that would otherwise inundate East Nashville, as they do every 100 years (by the way, Nashville is due for one of those 100 year floods, say the Design Team).