The construction phase of Murfreesboro’s Town Creek Daylighting Project is now well underway. Passersby will notice major changes to the area alongside Broad Street, with buildings demolished, ground moved, and water now flowing above ground.
With the concrete culverts built in the 1950s being unearthed, reconstruction of the natural waterways continues as we enter 2026.
The project, taking place between South Church Street and Cannonsburgh Village in downtown Murfreesboro along the west side of Broad Street, will greatly change the landscape of the area, bringing a park type of feature into the heart of the city.
According to former Assistant City Manager Sam Huddleston, this construction project has been decades in the making.
“Town Creek’s been a project we’ve been working on for almost 20 years now,” Huddleston said on the Insider Podcast, produced by the City of Murfreesboro’s CityTV.
This work will bring many changes to the area, including new green spaces, walking trails and seating areas. It will also connect several greenways in Murfreesboro together, allowing even greater accessibility to them, linking the nature trails at the Murfree Spring Wetlands to Cannonsburgh Village and, thus, the rest of the Murfreesboro Greenway system.
“I’m not a big greenway user, but my best friend is,” said Murfreesboro resident Matt Carr. “He’s a runner, and I think it’s great because he’ll get to explore more stuff.”
The $22.5 million project was approved by the Murfreesboro City Council in 2016 and is being directed by SBW Constructors.
Despite the large price tag, the project has potential to have a positive impact on the area, according to many local business and government leaders.
“It is a lot of money, but it can bring in some more economic growth. I think that will help offset it,” said Terry Smith, co-owner of FastSigns of Murfreesboro. “It has the potential to be some really great opportunities for the city and for businesses locally.”
Most of the money came from federal stimulus funds for the stormwater elements of the project.
Murfreesboro residents will also see improvements to the walkability of the downtown area as a result of this project, with overpasses being built above both NW Broad Street and South Church Street.
“It’s a great opportunity to connect more of our greenways together,” Smith noted, “and keep people safer than crossing Broad Street without the overpass.”
With several old buildings along NW Broad Street being demolished to make way for this project, residents expect improvements to the flow of traffic on that section of Broad Street as well, eliminating a few options for vehicles to turn in along the sometimes highly congested main roadway.
“You’re not going to be stop-and-go every five seconds on Broad Street,” Carr said. “It should help the flow of traffic.”
Example of an urban stream restoration
With natural waterways being restored as a part of this project, and green space added, local wildlife should also benefit.
“The stream being open to the sunlight again will recreate the aquatic environment that you would expect in a thriving stream,” Huddleston said.
With the culverts being roughly 70 years old, the city needed to make improvements to the infrastructure of the underground waterways. They used this opportunity to begin the daylighting project, adding a natural structure to Murfreesboro’s stormwater management plan.
The Town Creek project is expected to be completed by late 2026.
