Since 1999, the city of Murfreesboro has completed more than 50 road improvement projects at a cost of more than $250 million.
“We’ve done an incredible amount of transportation projects in the last 10 years,” Murfreesboro Traffic Director Dana Richardson said.
“I think we owe that to our city council for making road improvements a priority,” he continued.
Even though work has slowed down some because of economic challenges, the city, county and state are still working to improve the shape of roads in the community and here are the Top 10 (11, because that’s how we roll) road projects in Murfreesboro.
The city is currently reassessing some future projects and it is in the process of developing a five-year capital improvement plan, Richardson said.
1. Some of the more than 50 projects have diverted traffic from heavily used roads, like Old Fort Parkway and South Church Street, making everyone’s commute a little smoother.
Murfreesboro has gone from a two-exit town to four in the immediate area. If state route 840 is counted, the total of interchanges comes to six with the new Beesley Road interchange.
“That certainly helps distribute traffic on and off the arterial roadway network,” Richardson said.
Richardson said the opening of new interchanges at Medical Center Parkway and New Salem Pike has reduced traffic on Old Fort Parkway by 7.5 percent. It may not seem like a big drop but it equals more than 3,000 cars a day on the road.
“It’s a benefit,” Richardson said, explaining commuters from Nashville have additional options in the afternoon hours and a direct route to New Salem now with the new exit.
“It’s like a little backdoor,” he said.
But the new interchanges aren’t the only things that have improved traffic through the city. At the same time, the city has continued to improve signal timing and increased lanes on major roadways, Richardson said.
2. Rutherford County has four road improvement projects funded by federal stimulus money.
State route 41A (North Main Street) in Eagleville will see two separate resurfacing projects, and Manchester Highway in Murfreesboro will be repaved from Rutherford Boulevard to Epps Mill Road.
“On May 1, TDOT will open bids and hopefully have a low bidder for the project,” Doughty said, adding it has a completion date for the end of September but more details won’t be known until bids are awarded.
3. Florence Road from Manson Pike to Northwest Broad Street will be completed by the end of the year, traffic engineer Ram Balachandran said.
The 3.6-mile stretch is being widened from two to three lanes with curb, gutters and sidewalks for a cost of $8 million in county and city funds.
“By late this year, we hope to have that (Florence Road) completely open to traffic, weather permitting of course,” he said.
The city hopes to have the section between Honeybee and Santana drives completed by mid-June. Crews will then begin work on the State Route 840 overpass.
4. Driver’s haven’t been able to make a left turn at Broad and Main streets, but that should change in June when TDOT’s Broad Street bridge replacement project is completed.
“The Broad Street repair project is progressing well,” Doughty said.
TDOT is currently working on replacing two bridges over Lytle Creek – one at Broad and Main and another a block north of the intersection.
The bridges were built in 1949 and neither has had major repairs in their 60-year history, but TDOT has done minor concrete repairs over the years, Doughty said.
Crews are currently working on the railroad track side of Broad and should move to the Dodge’s Store side in early May.
5. Balachandran is shooting for a mid-May completion date on improvements to Rutherford Boulevard.
Crews will finish paving and striping the road this spring, weather permitting.
The city invested more than $7.5 million to improve the road from Ransom Drive to Church Street.
The existing two-lane road is being widened to five lanes with curbs and gutters. The city also invested $4.3 million for a city-funded bridge over the CSX railroad crossing.
6. Improvements to 2.3 miles of Halls Hill Pike from Shiloh Hill to Rutherford Boulevard are on schedule to be completed by summer 2010, County Engineer and Project Manger Eric Hill said.
The $9 million project’s main objective is to improve safety on the road by completely rebuilding the two-lane road to a three-lane roadway with curbs and gutters. It is the first joint venture between the city and county with county engineers managing.
Hill explained residents have limited sight distance from driveways and the close-knit Shiloh community will benefit from the addition of curbs, gutters and sidewalks.
“By the end of the summer, we should have one side done all the way to Rutherford. … We should have one or two good lanes all the way to Rutherford,” Hill said.
7. Last October, the city started work on River Rock Boulevard from New Salem to Stoney Meadow Drive.
The winding road has been closed for months, but when it is finished River Rock will be flatter, straighter and wider.
The new River Rock will have three lanes, including curbs, gutters and sidewalks, and bike lanes will extend the length of the road. A traffic light will also be installed at the River Rock-Highway 99 intersection.
Balachandran said work is progressing well and the project should be completed within four-six weeks, when paving, striping and signal work is completed.
8. After the death of a young girl on Bradyville Pike, Murfreesboro teamed up with TDOT to develop a plan to make the road safer for motorists and pedestrians.
“That is an interim, short-term project. We would like to pursue a three-lane road with curbs and gutters,” Richardson said, explaining that type of overhaul takes time.
“Now we’ve got something we can complete within a year, it doesn’t mean we won’t pursue a longer-term solution.”
The project has been bid, and TDOT is working out environmental issues before starting the project.
“We are hoping work can begin this summer,” Doughty said.
TDOT’s safety study suggested repaving the road between Middle Tennessee and Minerva, adding 4-foot, paved shoulders for pedestrian and bicycle use, and replacing all traffic-control signs, traffic lights and stop lines on side roads.
9. Contracts have been awarded for construction of the next portion of Veterans Parkway/Southwest Loop Road from Rucker Lane to Highway 96, Balachandran said. Construction on the $20 million four-lane road should begin this summer.
The city will build Veterans Parkway in phases over a couple of years and eventually it will connect to the Beesley Road interchange at state route 840.
TDOT spent $20.9 million on the recently completed Beesley Road project.
10. Extension of Joe B. Jackson Parkway from I-24 to Shelbyville Highway is slated to begin in spring 2010.
The road consists of new construction from the existing interchange to County Farm Road at a cost of $7.37 million in state, county and city funds.
11. In the not so distant future, Murfreesboro and TDOT will work together to give Middle Tennessee Boulevard a facelift.
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.
The project is only in the design phase now and should be complete before 2014. The city council approved a contract with Wiser Company for $1.5 million to design the project.
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 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.
Michelle Willard can be contacted at 615-869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com. |
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