The face of the Hall Road corridor could change in the coming years, as a planning study by the Tennessee Department of Transportation moves ahead. Alcoa and TDOT are soliciting public input to assess the community’s needs while addressing safety and flow concerns.
The parties hosted a public meeting at the Alcoa Service Center Tuesday evening, July 30, to present the study’s initial findings and ask for additional public input . There is no schedule for construction yet, but the study is intended to wrap up by January of 2025.
TDOT is specifically examining the stretch of Hall Road between Associates Boulevard and the Maryville/Alcoa border, and staff have identified several areas that could be improved. Alcoa staff reached out to TDOT earlier this year after the department released its 10-year infrastructure plan, asking them to come examine the corridor’s future for usability and safety.
Potential improvements would be TDOT’s responsibility, since Hall Road is a state route.
Data
Melody Butler of contractor CDM Smith told guests at the meeting Tuesday that the 1.9-mile section of road has contributed to almost 500 crashes in the last five years, 80 of which caused injuries. Two of those crashes have been fatal, such as a collision at the intersection of East Lincoln and Hall Road that killed a 19-year-old and led police to charge two juveniles in March.
Most Hall Road accidents center around intersections with traffic lights, such as the Lincoln Road and Bessemer intersections, Butler said, but the majority of those crashes are minor bumper-to-bumper collisions.
“At signalized intersections, it’s often rear-ending because people are stopping at the red light and maybe someone is going too fast behind them and can’t stop,” she said.
Crashes with injuries, she said, tend to happen near intersections without lights. Those lanes allow drivers to turn on their own timing, which opens them up to dangerous angled collisions with oncoming traffic.
The study is also approaching signal timing throughout the corridor, identifying areas where wait times could be improved. Staff have assigned a school-style letter grade to each intersection, and most stick around the A-C range throughout the day. As the hours drag on, however, intersections closer to the city border begin to approach D and even E grades.
Responses
Butler said the team, however, is lacking in public responses thus far. Only 15 people have filled out parts of the survey available online , and that’s something they want to change.
“We need to know what you’re experiencing,” she told guests Tuesday, adding that crash data alone isn’t enough: “There are near misses every day, or maybe you’re closing your eyes and hoping you get across safely. We need to know those as well.”
The TDOT survey asks individuals for their input on issues like safety, accessibility and other potential improvements to the corridor, including crosswalks and buffered sidewalks.
Once the team is done collecting data, a presentation to the Alcoa Board of Commissioners should happen in January. A second public meeting is tentatively scheduled for October.
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