Nashville is building for the next fifteen years. Sidewalks, traffic signals, transit centers, and widened roads are all part of the plan. Before any of that gets built, someone has to measure the ground. That work falls to survey companies.
For developers working near these corridors, understanding how surveying fits into this pipeline matters. It affects timelines, budgets, and how smoothly a project moves from design to construction.
Why Nashville’s $3.1 Billion “Choose How You Move” Plan Is Reshaping Demand for Survey Companies
In 2024, Nashville voters approved a 15-year, $3.1 billion transit and infrastructure package called Choose How You Move. It funds more than 86 miles of new sidewalks, close to 600 upgraded traffic signals, new transit centers, and complete streets projects across the city.
This is not one project. It is dozens of corridors, moving at different speeds, over more than a decade. That changes how survey work gets scheduled.
A typical private development might need a survey crew for a few weeks. A program like this needs surveying capacity for years, spread across sidewalks, signal upgrades, and transit hubs happening at the same time in different parts of town.
For developers, this means something practical. Survey firms that used to have open capacity for private projects are now also bidding on public corridor work. Booking a survey team early is no longer optional. It is part of keeping your project on schedule.
Right-of-Way Acquisition Surveys: The Overlooked Bottleneck in Road Widening Projects
Widening a road or adding a bus lane usually means the road needs more land than it currently has. That land often comes from private parcels along the corridor.
This is where right-of-way acquisition surveys come in. They are different from a standard boundary survey. A boundary survey tells you where your property line sits. A right-of-way survey does more. It establishes new public land limits, identifies partial takes from adjoining parcels, and documents the exact boundaries used to calculate compensation.
Projects like corridor upgrades tied to routes such as I-24 depend on this work moving fast and accurately. If the right-of-way survey is delayed or contains errors, the whole acquisition process slows down. Engineering can’t finalize design. Construction can’t start. Compensation disputes can drag on.
For developers with property near a widening project, this is the survey type most likely to touch your parcel directly. Getting ahead of it, rather than reacting to a notice, saves time later.
Utility Relocation Coordination: How Survey Companies Prevent Costly Corridor Conflicts
Before a signal upgrade, sidewalk, or transit center gets built, crews need to know what’s already underground and overhead. Gas lines, water mains, fiber, electrical conduit. All of it has to be mapped.
The problem is that utility records are often incomplete or outdated. Field conditions don’t always match what’s on file. A survey crew locating utilities before construction catches these mismatches early, when they’re cheap to fix.
Catch them late, mid-construction, and the cost jumps. Crews have to stop work. Designs get revised. Schedules slip.
Survey companies handle this by combining record research with field verification, using techniques like ground-penetrating radar and utility locating equipment. The goal is a corridor map that matches reality, not just paperwork.
For developers coordinating with utility-heavy corridors, this step is worth confirming before your own construction timeline gets set. A conflict discovered by someone else’s project can still affect yours if it shares the same utility corridor.
Control Networks and As-Built Surveys: Keeping Multi-Year Transit Corridors on Schedule
A project that runs a decade needs a fixed reference point. That’s what control networks provide.
Early in a corridor program, survey crews set permanent horizontal and vertical control points along the route. These points don’t move. Every phase of construction, every contractor, and every engineering team uses them to stay aligned, even years apart.
Alongside control networks, as-built surveys document what actually got built at each phase. Plans change during construction. As-built surveys record the real conditions, so the next phase of design starts from accurate information instead of outdated drawings.
Without this groundwork, a multi-year corridor risks phases that don’t line up. Grades that don’t match. Utilities placed in the wrong spot relative to the final design. Control networks and as-built surveys are what keep a decade-long project internally consistent.
What Property Owners Along Transportation Corridors Should Expect From a Survey Crew
If a survey crew shows up near your property, it doesn’t automatically mean your land is affected. Most sidewalk and signal work stays inside existing public right-of-way.
Here’s what’s usually happening:
- Crews are measuring existing right-of-way lines to confirm where public land ends
- They may be marking utility locations ahead of construction
- They could be setting control points for a nearby corridor project
- In some cases, they are checking whether a partial take or easement is needed
If your property is involved, you should receive direct contact from the agency or its contractor, not just a crew working nearby. If you’re unsure why a crew is on your street, the project’s public agency contact is the right place to ask.
FAQ
Will my property need a survey if it’s near a Choose How You Move project?
Only if the project requires right-of-way, an easement, or a partial take from your parcel. Most sidewalk and signal work stays within existing public right-of-way and won’t require contacting private owners.
Who pays for a right-of-way survey when a road is being widened?
On public infrastructure projects, the surveying is typically contracted and paid for by the government agency or its engineering firm, not the adjacent property owner.
How long does a corridor survey take on a multi-mile transportation project?
It varies widely based on corridor length, utility density, and access. Multi-mile transit or road corridors are usually surveyed in phases over several months, not in a single visit.
What’s the difference between a right-of-way survey and a boundary survey?
A boundary survey defines the limits of a single private parcel. A right-of-way survey defines the limits of public land along a road or corridor and how it intersects with adjoining private parcels.
Can I request the survey data used for a nearby infrastructure project?
In most cases, survey data tied to a public project is a public record and can be requested through the responsible city or state agency.
