With Citizens Advisory Committee, Dean's Amp lost the room

For the past six months, opponents to the Amp bus rapid-transit project have been the most visible during Amp Citizens Advisory Committee meetings.

Though a minority on the group (which was appointed by Mayor Karl Dean), opponents asked the most questions. They jostled with Amp engineers on design and traffic-impact studies. They made the group a mouthpiece for their opposition.

In the end, however, concerns about the $174 million project came from more than just the loudest opponents on the 25-member advisory group, which Dean formed in April to provide regular feedback on the project. As members of the CAC issued final statements during the group's last meeting Tuesday, one thing became apparent: Dean's bus rapid-transit project had lost the room.

"Whatever happens to the Amp, it's really a side bar. It's time for a community plan," Lewis Lavine, chair of the MTA board's Amp committee. "I think we ought to do the Amp if it's the right thing to do. If there's something better we ought to figure out something better."

That last line was met with hearty applause from Amp opponents in the room

Overwhelmingly, CAC members, both for and against the Amp, called for a larger regional plan beyond the 7.1-mile project.

Barrett Hobbs of Cumberland Hospitality Group, called the Amp "a band aid on a mortal wound."

"We're on a collision course and our traffic will eventually shut off the flow of growth," Hobbs said. "Is the Amp the solution to that? … It's tough for me to say this is the only thing we need be looking at."

"After six months, I have more questions than I have answers," Mina Johnson, a West Nashville resident on the committee, said of the Amp.

Scott Harrison covers government and economic development, banking and law.