TravelCenters of America (TA) is reopening its Nashville, TN, location this week after an eight month, $6 million renovation effort to repair the facility following the damaging floods that hit the city in May 2010.
TA said its Nashville truck stop – located at Exit 48 off of Interstate 24 – now features a 4,000 sq. ft. store, a 114-seat Country Pride full service restaurant, completely rebuilt showers and restrooms, a driver’s lounge with a 55-in. flat screen high definition television and plush leather seats designed by La-Z-Boy.
Other amenities include wireless Internet access, a game room, a laundry room. Services offered include a CAT Scale, TripPak, Western Union and Transcore load monitoring services.
Open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, TA Nashville also offers nine diesel lanes – one outfitted with an on-island Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) dispenser – and is the first TA facility to include “StaySafe,” an experimental parking lot awareness program that includes 24-hour parking lot security cameras covering its 167-space truck parking area.
The site also features a six-bay truck service center, which is a Freightliner ServicePoint location and also offers RoadSquad roadside assistance vehicles.
“We are excited to welcome our loyal customers back to Nashville.” said Thomas O’Brien, TA’s president and CEO. “I’m very happy and proud to be able to have reintroduced 55 jobs to the Nashville area. Many of our employees today worked at the site before the floods and they are as excited as I am to welcome back our customers.”
He added that TA is planning a grand re-opening celebration March 1 through 5 that will feature celebrities, music, prizes and special deals.
The massive floods that damaged TA Nashville resulted from torrential rainfall of over 19 in. experienced May 1 and 2 last year, causing the Cumberland River to crest over 51 ft. – a level not seen since 1937, which was before flood control measures were built by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Flood damage estimates in Nashville totaled $1.5 billion, not including damage to roads, bridges, or public buildings, as well as contents inside buildings. Some 30 counties in Tennessee were declared major disaster areas by the federal government; roughly 31% of that state.
