KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. ( WATE ) — Knox County is planning for three upcoming road improvement projects.
Hardin Valley Road , West Emory Road at Clinton Highway and Schaad Road will all see upgrades within the next year. Knox County Public Works and Engineering Senior Director Jim Snowden said the Hardin Valley and W. Emory projects stem from the county’s Advance Knox growth plan that received final approval in April.
Aerospace company bringing new jobs to Morristown in $28M expansion “Part of that was the transportation plan, so as part of that plan, we wanted to also be proactive with our infrastructure improvements where we had growth proposed, and obviously in Hardin Valley, we know growth’s really occurring out there, and we’re proposing growth there, so that was one of the areas we wanted to focus on,” Snowden said.
The county will be expanding Hardin Valley Road from three lanes to five lanes , between the first and second entrances to Pellissippi State Community College. Currently, the right lane heading toward Hardin Valley Academy, which begins after Solway Road, ends almost immediately. After the project, that lane will instead continue for about a mile, along with another additional lane.
The project is something Hardin Valley resident Robert Cox said is needed to reduce traffic. He drives from his home near Marietta Church Road to his office behind Faith Promise Church every day.
“The traffic around 8 o’clock is horrible, it’s backed up trying to go from home to work, from work to home, or dropping the grandkids off at school,” he said.
As a general contractor, Cox has seen an increasing amount of homes being built in the area.
“For the people that are moving in and building homes, we’ve just got to increase our roads, make more lanes,” he said.
The Hardin Valley road project will cost $2 million and take about 1-2 years. It is expected to begin next summer.
Hardin Valley Road to be widened amid population, subdivision increase “We have to prioritize what we’re going to do to get the most bang for our buck, and in this case, we look at Hardin Valley Road, and it’s pretty low-hanging fruit for how we can hopefully help mitigate some congestion there,” Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs said. “As well as, we have the big development going in off Emory Road and Clinton Highway, same situation there.”
W. Emory Road at Clinton Highway is where Smithbilt’s new Belltown development is going. The company and the county are partnering on road improvements in that area.
“We’re looking at improvements along W. Emory that TDOT is requiring as part of Belltown, and we’re also doing an off-site improvement at Clinton Highway at W. Emory to add a dual left lane off of Clinton Highway onto westbound Emory,” Snowden said.
The majority of the W. Emory project is being funded by Smithbilt.
The county is also looking forward to the completion of the Schaad Road project, which started a few years ago. Snowden expects the bulk of the work to be completed in the fall. He said the county ran into some snags concerning permits for a railroad located on the road, but that those issues were recently resolved.
Public comment sought as Foothills Parkway expansion project continues When completed, the Schaad Road project is expected to cost around $48 million.
The county will be holding three public informational meetings about each project:
- W. Emory Road/Clinton Highway project meeting: Tuesday, July 23 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at Powell Middle School
- Hardin Valley Road project meeting: Tuesday, July 30 from 5 to 7 pm at Hardin Valley Middle School
- Schaad Road project meeting: Thursday, August 1 from 5 to 7 pm at Ball Camp Elementary School
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WATE 6 On Your Side.
Most Popular
Comments / 0