NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – A new proposal would ban sidewalk vendors in the Gulch by expanding the no-sell zone outside of downtown Nashville for the first time.
City leaders said it is necessary to improve safety and help people move through the busy area.
The Nashville Department of Transportation (NDOT) received 46 complaints about sidewalk vendors in September and October. according to a Hub Nashville reportand 33 of them were in the Gulch. The majority of them were aimed at people selling vending machines along 11th Avenue South without a permit.
A Traffic and Parking Committee a meeting will take place on Tuesday afternoon about the proposal. This meeting comes after the group banned street vending in the downtown area in January 2024. Gulch residents, businesses and NDOT submitted this new request.
Seth Parker walks around the neighborhood at least once a week on his lunch break. He said it is normally pleasant, but on weekends it gets very busy with tourists.
“They’re very narrow,” Parker said of the sidewalks. “It wouldn’t be a piece of cake if there were street vendors and huge crowds walking through here.”
Vending machines generally require a public sidewalk that is at least 12 feet wide and away from fire hydrants, metered parking and bus stops. NDOT staff said the Gulch usually has 10-foot sidewalks and there are very few places where you can set up a booth without disturbing the people moving through the area.
According to NDOT, there have been 29 pedestrian crashes in the Gulch area over the past three years, including two fatalities. That’s part of what the department calls “a concerning post-COVID-19 upward trend in pedestrian crashes” in the area.
Polly Powers lived in the Gulch during that time and said there are too many sidewalks that end haphazardly or are blocked by development. She is always alert when she takes her two dogs for their daily walks.
She would like to see the sidewalks widened to handle the large crowds and keep everyone safe.
“I don’t think vendors are necessarily the biggest offenders on these sidewalks,” Powers said. “I’d say it’s a lot of cowboy hats and cowboy boots filling my vision when I walk. They get in the way, but are also visitors. They want to see the area, so I understand.
NDOT said it is also working to remove scooters, bicycles and signs from downtown and Gulch sidewalks to free up more space for people to walk.
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