NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – It’s a round-the-clock operation to keep Nashville’s most famous street up and running.
The Nashville Department of Transportation has 22 positions assigned to the downtown cleaning crew with overnight shifts running from 9:30 p.m. to about 6 a.m.
When the businesses close and honky tonkers leave for the night, the sounds of musicians transition to the tune of street sweepers and what NDOT calls a flusher.
“The street sweepers are there to kind of take care of all the curb lines and basically like it is…the street,” said NDOT Operations Manager Cody Osborne. “The flusher may come through and flush the streets and wash any excess off.”
Metro Water Services’ waste services staff empty all downtown litter baskets several times during the day and at night. They also empty trash carts and pick up cardboard from roughly 150-175 businesses, some of which hire private trash collectors as well.
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“If those guys aren’t down here, those street sweepers and flushers aren’t flushing every day, it would be quite interesting,” Osborne said.
He spent much of his career with Metro Public Works before it became NDOT and said the overnight crews are a vital part keeping Broadway going for everyone.
“I’ve been with Metropolitan Government for over 20 years,” said Osborne. “It’s huge to get the streets like this, for everybody to come in the next morning, whether they’re going to work or coming down to enjoy the day. Just try to keep it clean. Our guys do a great job of getting it ready for everybody. So I think it’s huge in the whole system.”
They have several open positions for this team and anyone interested is encouraged to apply.
“We have everything from a ground man to an operator, so you could be a maintenance and repair worker, equipment operator, we would love to have you,” Osborne said. “The city does a good job of keeping that pay competitive and keeping the benefits good.”