Smyrna, Tennessee Speed Traps

The police used to like to sit in plain view at the Aldi’s parking lot, and still do to some degree. However, due to complaints from Aldi’s about customers being driven off, this speed trap is mostly obsolete now but is still used from time to time. They generally use it during the mid-day and PM rush hour, but I’m sure that it’s used at other times of the day. I have never personally been pulled over at this stop, but used to see the cop car in the parking lot on a daily basis.

Smyrna just recently dropped the speed limit from 45mph on Nissan Drive travelling both toward and away from the Nissan plant. Reduced speed is now 25mph between the Murfreesboro Rd overpass and the Old Nashville Hwy overpass. This is a school area so this is probably why the speed limit is so low for a four lane divided highway. Cruisers are sitting there CONSTANTLY now, shooting triggered radar. Be careful through there!

Smyrna city Police are fond of staking out Old Nashville Highway between the Almaville/Hazelwood intersection and Sam Ridley Parkway. Often seen sitting in vacant lots / unused access road cutoffs near the various hills along the road. Usual spots are near the Enon Springs road turnoff and the Rocky Fork Road turnoff. Speed limit is 45mph and they show little mercy.

Trap #1:

Smyrna city Police have begun staking out the Smyrna First Baptist Church parking lot and using it to enforce the ridiculously low 30mph speed limit on Almaville Rd. Limit drops abruptly from 45mph to 30mph right as you make your way downhill. Watch out for them!


Trap #2:

Smyrna city Police are also fond of parking in the old Food Lion parking lot and the adjacent Middle Tennessee Expo Center parking lot near the Almaville / Old Nashville Hwy junction. Speed limit is 30mph through here, so keep an eye on the speedometer!

Travelling on I-24 East Bound just as you pass the Sam Ridley Parkway exits (68A and 68B) you will begin to climb a hill. State Police usually sit in the grassy median between dirt berms right as you crest the hill -OR- beneath an overpass as you make your way down the other side of the hill. The generally shoot radar from outside the vehicle and only use *triggered* radar, not continuously on. By the time your detector picks it up, you’ve already been clocked. Keep it at 70mph until you pass the Nissan Drive / Lee Victory Parkway exit. This trap is usually present during afternoon rush hour traffic only.