When Blount County and others bid to get a gun manufacturer to move to the pastoral community near Louisville, TN, they apparently promised better roads. However, they did not include the City of Louisville Mayor and Aldermen in the plans. Now that the plans are being made open to Louisville residents and administration, they are not finding the plans acceptable.

A resolution condemning the project, passed unanimously by the Louisville Board of Mayor and Aldermen April 9, claims the road work would negatively impact neighboring residential areas and eliminate access to businesses and the Louisville Post Office.
...
Jeff Muir, director of communications for the Blount Partnership [chamber of commerce?], said the proposed work came from planning for trucks from Smith & Wesson to safely share the road with other traffic, and to accommodate the additional stream of employees.
...
The problem, [Mayor Pugh] said, is Louisville has less than 5,000 residents. That means it doesn’t qualify for its own representation when planning transportation projects like this.

Wow, who knew local residents were not being informed of changes to their community? Hah, TDOT knew. Blount County administrators, City of Alcoa administrators, the county chamber of commerce all probably knew. They all seemed to not care how changes affect local citizens and the smaller communities.

There’s further confusion over who requested the improvements.

So far, nobody's admitting to requesting the changes. The Mayor of Louisville has to request a copy of the TDOT project application.

Jeff Muir, director of communications for the Blount Partnership [chamber of commerce?] Said, "TDOT has ownership of Louisville Road and the department can modify the road as it wishes", which is "part of the deal brokered to bring the firearm manufacturer to Blount County." "No one filed an application for the work, he said."

The previous Louisville Mayor apparently knew about some of these road changes.

The current Louisville Mayor, Ms. Pugh, would "like TDOT to conduct a noise pollution study and wants to know if an environmental impact study has taken place. She’d also like to see estimated traffic counts for the road."

Seems reasonable.

Does it seem like the local governments and chamber of commerce ran right over the small town of Louisville and its residents? I guess they really wanted a gun manufacturer in our midst.

According to tweets from Mark Nagi, Community Relations Officer with the Tennessee Department of Transportation:

On Saturday, June 13, Hunt Road will be closed at the Alcoa Highway overpass.

Motorists traveling in Blount County should be aware of the upcoming road closure that will have an affect on traffic in Alcoa over the next six months.

The existing Hunt Road bridge will be demolished and replaced by a new Hunt Road bridge over Alcoa Highway.

This roadway is expected to re-open to traffic in December 2020.

Signage is in place alerting motorists of the upcoming closure.

This detour map shows the new traffic pattern following those Hunt Road bridge demolition activities, and will be in place until December 2020.

Click image for bigger.

The existing bridge will be demolished during nighttime operations June 14-18.

Traffic will be detoured around the bridge demolition using existing interchange ramps. That detour will only be in place for the demolition activities.

The TN Dept of Transportation contractor will be closing the Hunt Road Bridge to traffic on the morning of Saturday, June 13, 2020. This closure will remain in place through Winter 2020 and will allow the contractor to construct the new Hunt Road bridge. During this closure, traffic will be detoured along State Routes.

For information on the Alcoa Highway road project you can visit this TN Dept of Transportation website.

You can contact Mark Nagi at the TN Dept. of Transportation if you have any questions.
Mark Nagi (media contact)
TDOT Region 1 Community Relations Officer
Phone: 865.594.0161
Email: Mark.Nagi@tn.gov

TDOT is holding a community outreach meeting to learn more about the Alcoa Highway Improvements project, specifically the section from Hall Road (Alcoa Hwy/129/Bypass split) to the airport interchange (Tyson Blvd) in Blount County.

Who: TDOT
What: Alcoa Highway Improvements

When Today, April 25, 2019
5 PM to 7 PM

Where: City of Alcoa Service Center
725 Universal Street, Alcoa TN 37701

The Alcoa Service Center at 725 Universal Street is the only thing on Universal Street. It is located off of Wright Road. From Hunt Road, you can take Wright Road to the stop sign, turn left, then an immediate right. You can also come from Springbrook Road, where at the intersection (four way stop signs), go west away from Hall Road then Universal will be on the right.

Rumor is the Pine Lakes Golf Course will be closing at the end of March, 2019.

Pine Lakes was built in 1971. Nearly 50 years later the course is being closed to make way for an unnecessary road.

Alas, more unneeded pavement. What are you gonna do?

TDOT is currently doing road work around the Alcoa Hwy., Hunt Road, and Hall Road interchange. I requested a map of the changes from TDOT. Here is what I received. The notations with green arrows are my additions to better identify some of the changes.

Click image for bigger.

Temporary lane closures -

BLOUNT COUNTY, US 129 North and South between SR 35 Hall Road and Tyson Boulevard:

On Monday, March 18, 2019 through Friday, March 22, 2019,

motorists should be alert for brief traffic stops to occur at various times between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.as crews perform tree removal in this area. Motorists should expect potential delays, be alert for stopped traffic and use extreme caution through this roadway construction project.

TDOT and local municipalities have been pushing for Pellissippi Parkway to extend from Maryville Pike/Knoxville Hwy (SR 33) to Lamar Alexander Highway/US 321(SR 73). The "proposed extension would be approximately 4.4 miles."

As reported in The Daily Times of Maryville,

• In September, 2015, the TDOT Environmental Impact Statement estimated the cost would be $165.7 million.
• In April, 2017, the Knoxville Transportation Planning Organization Mobility Plan estimated the cost would be $194.2 million.
• In August, 2017, TDOT reported to FHWA the estimated cost would be $63.5 million.
• In September, 2017, TDOT reported a new estimated cost of $61.1 million.

Read the full report in The Daily Times. TDOT does try to explain how a road plan estimated cost can drop from $165.7 million to $61.1 million in two years. It appears TDOT has changed methods on how they estimate road project costs.

“It became apparent to TDOT planners and engineers that the [per-mile estimation] method did not provide many customization options for the proposed roadway features that could significantly affect the cost of a project such as roadway and shoulder widths, earthwork, bridges and retaining walls,” [TDOT Community Relations Officer Mark] Nagi said. “TDOT engineers suggested that the results did not provide the level of accuracy needed to compare different project alternatives, and proposed that the department investigate alternative estimation methods at the planning level.”

Huh.

Trying to go northbound on Alcoa Highway from Hunt Road westbound or exiting off of Alcoa Highway to Hunt Road going westbound, ? It isn't going to happen easily effective Monday, March 26, 2018.

For up to a month, the road project will cause detours, half of which they will be directing through the center of Springbrook Park and the Springbrook neighborhood.

If you need to go northbound on Alcoa Highway while traveling westbound on Hunt Road (from the Louisville Rd side of the highway), you will have to instead stay on Hunt Road, then take a left on Wright Road to access Alcoa Highway at the intersection where Shoney's is located. Note, there is no acceleration lane at that intersection. It has been know to be a very dangerous intersection. There could be long waits taking a left on Wright Road and accessing Alcoa Highway at the Shoney's intersection. Be careful out there.

If you want to exit Alcoa Highway at Hunt Road to go east or west bound on Hunt Road, prior to that interesection you'll be directed to a new exit to a new road, Tesla Boulevard. This detour will take you to a right turn to a short access road, then a right turn to Mills Street for about 1/4 mile, then a left turn on Alcoa Road for about 2/3 of a mile, then another left turn onto Wright Road (there is no traffic light there), then about 1/3 mile to the Hunt Road intersection. There is a traffic light at the Hunt Road intersection, but unless they are changing it, there is not left turn arrow, which has left me sitting there through many light changes during heavy traffic.

Instead of taking all of this traffic through Springbrook Park and the Springbrook neighborhood, they could have directed this traffic a mile further north on Alcoa Highway to Cusick Road, which will take you to Wright Road where you will take a left or right on Hunt Road.

Hmmmm. I have something here. Time to get the Springbrook residents to step up again to protect their neighborhood.

A railroad crossing will be undergoing repair on Alcoa Hwy, what locals call the bypass.

From 8 AM Sunday, August 27, 2017, to 6 AM Monday, August 28, 2017, South bound Alcoa Hwy (US 129) will be closed from the Hall Road intersection to the Louisville Road intersection. Hall Road is south of the airport and Hunt Road. Louisville Road is the intersection to access Walmart, Cracker Barrel, etc. Detours will take traffic to Hall Road, Bessemer Street, Louisville Road, then back to Alcoa Hwy.

TDOT has announced a public meeting to gather public input on the plans for an Alcoa Highway Bypass, a 6-8 lane road proposed through Alcoa and Rockford.

The City of Alcoa originated in 1918 as the first planned community in the State of Tennessee. A planned community is any community that was carefully planned from its inception. In the original plans, Alcoa, Inc., included one acre of park space for every 100 city inhabitants. In addition, between 1918 and 1924 approximately 300 shade trees were planted along city streets and parks. This type of planning has gone by the wayside.

Please help us out. We do not need a colossal roadway through our communities. The proposed Alcoa Highway bypass will come too close to the treasured Springbrook neighborhood and community park. It will take away the Pine Lakes Golf Course. It will also negatively affect the Northwood, Glenmore Estates, and Cedar Hill neighborhoods as well as five other impacted areas. Very little noise abatement is planned. All of the existing Alcoa Hwy in Knox County and the majority in Blount County is being widened. Why can't the just widen the existing highway in the Alcoa area?

The meeting will be held:
Thursday, May, 18 2017
5 - 7 PM

The meeting location will be held at the Alcoa Public Works building.
725 Universal Street
(off of N. Wright Road/E. Edison Street, just north of Springbrook Road and east of Springbrook Park )
Alcoa, TN 37701
865-380-4800

TDOT will take written comments, a court reporter will be available for verbal comments, and you can speak with TDOT representatives.
Reference the Blount County SR-115 (US-129) projects (Alcoa Hwy Bypass) in your comments.

Please attend to express your opinion for NO Alcoa Highway Bypass.

Does Blount County really want to be an extension of Oak Ridge? Lamar Alexander thinks so, but only mentions Blount County in reference to jobs already in the works.

“I can think of no better calling card for a job recruiter than to be able to go anywhere in the world and say, ‘I’m from the Oak Ridge Corridor,'” the Tennessee Republican said in a press release after speaking to Rotary members at the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge. “In Anderson, Roane, and Knox counties, more than 40,000 people have graduate or professional degrees.

Alexander failed to mention Blount County in the quote. Pellissippi Parkway doesn't go into Anderson County.

In my road travels I see quite a few technology corridors in different states and I wonder how the designations get assigned. People today barely recognize the reference to Oak Ridge. As if the road name change will bring more jobs. It's all BS, IMHO.

The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Pellissippi Parkway Extension is complete and available from TDOT. The FEIS was approved by the Federal Highway Administration on September 10, 2015.

Go to KnoxViews for more information.

TDOT has announced a public meeting to discuss the plans for an Alcoa Highway Bypass, a 6-8 lane road proposed through Alcoa and Rockford.

The meeting will be held:
Thursday, February 12, 2015
5 - 7 PM

*** UPDATE ***
The meeting location has changed/been corrected.
It will be held at the Alcoa Public Works building.
NOT at the Alcoa Municipal Building
in the lunchroom of Alcoa Public Works
725 Universal Street
(off of N. Wright Road/E. Edison Street, just north of Springbrook Road and east of Springbrook Park )
Alcoa, TN 37701
865-380-4800

TDOT will take written comments, a court reporter will be available for verbal comments, and you can speak with TDOT representatives.

Please attend to express your opinion for NO Alcoa Highway Bypass.

Anyone with questions regarding the meeting or if you cannot attend, please contact TDOT representatives:
Paul Beebe (paul.beebe@tn.gov)
or Mike Russell(mike.russell@tn.gov)
TDOT
7345 Region Lane
Knoxville, TN 37914
Office Voice - 865-594-2442
Fax - 865-594-2441

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 3, 2013

Plan now to join us at CAPPE-FEST,
a mini music festival at The Betsy House in Rockford, TN
Sunday, September 15

Performance schedule:

1pm - gates open
2pm - Daniel Kimbro (link...)
2:45pm - Greg Horne (link...)
3:30pm - Jay Clark & The Tennessee Tree Beavers (link...)
4:30pm - Jeff Barbra & Sarah Pirkle
5:30pm - The Lonetones (link...)
6:30pm - Jimmy Davis (link...)

Reservations are requested and can be made by emailing jayclarkmusic@comcast.net
Directions and other details will be sent after reservations are made.
This is an outdoor concert!
Food/supper & non-alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase.
Bring your own adult beverages, chairs, blankets, etc.

Tickets are $20, children under 16 tickets are $10.
(In case of rain, the show will be moved inside "The Betsy House". The first 55 people that show up and pay are guaranteed a seat in "The Betsy House".)

All proceeds go to CAPPE: Citizens Against the Pellissippi Parkway Extension, Inc.
For more information please visit (link...) or (link...)

-end-

A Community Briefing will be held regarding a change in the route for the Pellissippi Parkway Extension, Alternative A. An environmentally sensitive area, that apparently must be avoided, was found during further studies of the area. The route will be changed near the Kensington Place mobile home community, either 150 feet west into the community or 300 feet east away from the community.

The meeting will be held:

Thursday, May 30, 2013
5 - 7 PM
Rio Revolution Church
3425 E. Lamar ALexander Parkway,
Maryville, TN 37804
(Approx. 10 miles from the airport, 4 miles past Blount Memorial Hospital, out TN-73 E/US-321 N/E Lamar Alexander Pkwy towards Townsend, on the left. If you get to the road going to Heritage High School you have gone too far.)

UPDATE: Pellissippi Parkway Extension (SR 162) Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

The comment period for the proposed avoidance shifts has been extended to Saturday, June 15, 2013. Below is a link to the comment form including the June 15th date. Please feel free to share this comment form with others.

Materials presented at the Community Briefing have been posted on the project website - (link...).

TDOT PPE Comment Form