Murfreesboro City Council set Middle Tennessee Boulevard on the road to perfection Thursday night by approving contracts with MTSU and the Tennessee Department of Transportation.
The contracts put in writing an agreement to improve Middle Tennessee Boulevard between East Main Streets and Greenland Drive.
The project is only in the design phase now and should be complete before 2014.
“It’ll take a couple of years to get the design set and acquiring the right-of-way,” Murfreesboro Traffic Director Dana Richardson explained, adding the city is just getting the ball rolling by approving the contract.
The project will rebuild and widen Middle Tennessee Boulevard, from Main to Greenland, to a four/five lane road with landscaped medians, sidewalks, bike lanes and an Intelligent Transportation System, as well as underground utilities and intersection pedestrian plazas.
This is the last section of the road to be improved between State Route 99 and Memorial Boulevard as part of the city’s Major Thoroughfare Plan, Richardson explained.
The completed road will be four to five lanes throughout with bike lanes and sidewalks.
The project is projected to cost around $9.5 million with almost $6 million funded by the federal government, more than $2.4 million funded by the city and the remainder funded by MTSU.
The council liked the limited use of city money and the use of a federal grant to fund the majority of the project..
“We try to maximize our funds where we can,” Richardson said.
Michelle Willard can be contacted at 615-869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com.
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