Nashville Ikea Prep Closes Roads, 'Trapping' Residents

ANTIOCH, TN — The long-awaited Nashville Ikea won't open until the summer of 2020, but area residents are already feeling the impact.

Crews are widening roads in the area and installing a traffic light at the intersection of Old Franklin Road and Cane Ridge Road, closing the intersection until mid-August. Area residents said the closure is making ingress and egress from the neighborhood difficult. (For more updates on this story and free news alerts for your neighborhood, sign up for your local Middle Tennessee Patch morning newsletter.)

Nashville's Ikea is part of the massive, 300-acre Century Farms development in Antioch, which will also include Community Health Systems back-office operation, plus retail and residential development. The project will require a number of road improvements over the next few years and this first one has folks feeling a little claustrophobic.

“I think we’re going to need a helicopter to get out,” long-time resident Billy Jean Tidwell told WKRN. “I’m delighted by the project but I have very limited access to get out of where I live.”

While the Cane Ridge/Old Franklin project should be finished in time for the start of school, there's more to come. The biggest project will be a new interchange at the Hickory Hollow Parkway exit off Interstate 24, a concession from Metro to Ikea. That's not expected to close any roads. Connector roads inside the project will tie into Old Franklin and Cane Ridge roads, which will also get new sidewalks.

Image via Ikea