Joint meeting to discuss realign of Gresham, Fortress, Manson Pike on The Murfreesboro Post

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Joint meeting to discuss realign of Gresham, Fortress, Manson Pike

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By: BY ERIN EDGEMON, Business Editor

Posted: Sunday, August 17, 2008 8:10 am

Joint meeting to discuss realign of Gresham, Fortress, Manson Pike | CITY

Google Maps. City officials are meeting to discuss the possible realignment of Gresham, Fortress and Manson.

Murfreesboro City Council and Planning Commission have scheduled a joint meeting Thursday to discuss the possible realignment of Gresham Lane, Fortress Boulevard and Manson Pike to ease traffic flow.

Dana Richardson, city traffic director, will recommend to members of both bodies that the city’s major thoroughfare plan — the document that shows future road projects through 2025 – be updated to allow for the realignment of the three roadways.

The joint meeting is slated for 5 p.m. in room 218 of Murfreesboro City Hall at 111 W. Vine St., one block off the Public Square.

Since there is still a “substantial amount of undeveloped land” in that area, city staff felt it would be the best time to study the road network and correct any problems before more commercial and residential development happens in the area just off the Interstate 24 interchange at Medical Center Parkway/Manson Pike.

“We felt it would be prudent to assess some of the traffic deficiencies that we would anticipate prior to allowing further development in the immediate area,” Richardson said.

Right now, he said it is nearly impossible for motorists to turn left out of Gresham Lane due to the heavy traffic on the roadway and its proximity to the interstate interchange.

“What has basically happened is that with the increase in (traffic) volume, the difficulties of getting in and out of Gresham Lane has been exacerbated, Richardson said.

He said a realignment of Gresham Lane and Fortress Boulevard to better tie into Manson Pike near the interchange would not affect existing homeowners.

“One of the main reasons we took this study was that there was little developed land right next to the interchange area, which means the things that need to be changed and done will need to be done before it is developed,” Richardson said. “It is a fairly open space out there to try to make the improvements now."

The city’s major thoroughfare plans also includes plans to widen Fortress Boulevard to a five-lane roadway.

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Member Opinions:

By: LawDog on 8/17/08
Has it taken the city this long to figure out they screwed up traffic when Fortress and the interchange was built?

By: ItsGood on 8/17/08
At least they built sidewalks in that area.

By: titansone on 8/17/08
Ya know, a traffic light at the intersection of Manson Pike and Gresham would be a start. Or should we just wait a couple of years before they rebuild the road?

By: borowatcher on 8/18/08
The City didn't build that confusion out there. TDOT did. TDOT didn't want their project's focus to grow from an interstate interchange to a city road project, so you can't really blame them for not doing any more than what they did at the time.

By: LaLaBoro on 8/18/08
"Interstate 25"??? where's that??!?!?

By: emw247 on 8/18/08
A light would be the simplest and fasted solution, but then the city would need to figure out how to synchronize traffic lights. And anyone who has been around the 'Boro long KNOWS they don't know how to do that.