Interstate 24 Southeast Choice Lanes
Status - Updated September 2026
TDOT holding Open Houses the week of September 7th
Nashville — Tuesday, September 8, 12:30 to 6:00 p.m.
Nashville Public Library, Pruitt Branch, 117 Charles E. Davis Blvd., Nashville, TN 37210
Smyrna — Wednesday, September 9, 12:30 to 6:00 p.m.
Smyrna Event Center, 100 Sam Ridley Pkwy E., Smyrna, TN 37167
Both are open-house format, so you can arrive any time in that window and leave when you are done. There is no presentation to be late for.
If you live near the interstate, the Nashville meeting on the 8th is the one to go to — and if you received a letter from TDOT, bring it with you.
Where the Project Stands
The Federal Highway Administration approved the project's environmental review on June 16, 2026, and the state selected DriveTN in August to build and operate the lanes.
TDOT says it has not finalized a construction start or opening date. Federal traffic analysis of TDOT's baseline design assumed the lanes would open in 2032, and August news coverage reported a tentative 2027 groundbreaking — but neither is a commitment, and TDOT has not adopted a schedule for DriveTN's proposal.
About the Letters
Homeowners in Glencliff began receiving letters from TDOT in late July and early August 2026.
TDOT has said publicly that these letters are not eminent domain notices and that no property acquisitions have been finalized — that only a limited number of properties are known to be impacted, and that individual impacts should not be treated as final until the design, environmental and right-of-way reviews are complete. Councilmember Ginny Welsch has said that District 16 alone could lose more than thirty homes.
Those two statements are hard to hold at once, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. What we can say plainly is this: a letter is not a final decision, and the design is still under review. If you received one, you have not lost your house, and it is not too late to be heard.
If you received a letter...
Please get in touch. We are keeping track of which streets and which blocks are affected, and we carry that record into every conversation we have with city and state officials — so that what is happening on your street gets named specifically in those rooms, instead of being described in general terms by people it isn't happening to.
We want to be straight with you about the limits of that. We are neighbors, not lawyers. We cannot negotiate with TDOT on your behalf, we cannot review your offer, and we cannot promise you an outcome. What we can do is make sure this is on the record and that you are not going through it unnoticed.
You also have rights under federal law. Acquisition and relocation for a project like this are governed by the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act — the "Uniform Act" — which sets requirements for appraisal, fair compensation, and relocation assistance. TDOT's own project FAQ says that TDOT and DriveTN will follow it. It is worth understanding before you are asked to sign anything.
What are we working on?
16th United is joining with other South Nashville neighborhood organizations on a shared request to TDOT: if this project runs through our neighborhoods, what does it invest back into them? We are also raising it with our state legislators.
Contacts:
TDOT project team: TDOT.24ChoiceLanes@tn.gov · project hotline (615) 451-8039
16th United: 16thunited@gmail.com · 615-873-0262