Nashville Mayor Briley resurrects $125M downtown flood wall and protection system proposal

Mayor David Briley's administration has revived a long-debated proposal to build a downtown Nashville flood protection system that would include a flood wall — a plan the Metro Council has rejected three times despite the advice of the city's water director.

The mayor's office has added the flood protection proposal — which would now cost $125 million, up from $110 million when originally introduced in 2015 — back to the city's proposed capital improvements budget, which serves as a six-year wish list of city projects. The council will consider the budget next month after it was filed last week.

Briley, whose office is up for grabs in Thursday's special mayoral election, is now the third mayor to push thedowntown flood wall and protection system, which was conceived after the city's devastating May 2010 flood.

The historic flood produced 19 inches of rainfall, killed 11 people and wreaked damage across Nashville, including the city's downtown business and tourist district south of Broadway, which sits on the west bank of the Cumberland River.

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Former mayors Megan Barry and Karl Dean both failed to win approval for the project, primarily because council members complained that more flood mitigation efforts should be given to residential neighborhoods across Davidson County that are still at risk eight years after the