Cookeville officials will vote Thursday night on a plan to construct a new northbound left turn lane on South Willow Avenue at Lee Seminary Road.
City Manager James Mills said T-DOT has agreed to fund fund the construction of the turn lane to help alleviate traffic congestion near Parkview Elementary School.
“Over the years, especially since the Parkview school moved out to Lee Seminary Road, traffic’s been backing up,” Mills said. “I’ve got a lot of calls, especially in the mornings, for people mostly coming from outside the city, but are coming up Willow and want to take a left and it’s queuing up for a great distance, people trying to take their kids to school.”
Mills said the city must acquire approximately 900 square feet of right-of-way and several thousand feet of easements to facilitate the project. The city is currently negotiating with property owners to finalize the land acquisition.
“Anytime T-DOT’ll come in and do this type of project for you at no cost or at relatively small cost, you know, this is something we need to do,” Mills said. “Widening South Willow Avenue to five lanes all the way south past Seminary Road has been in our major street plan for for many years, but I don’t anticipate that happening for five maybe ten years.”
Council will vote on the acquisition of land Thursday night. Mills said Assistant City Manager Jon Ward is making progress on negotiating for the land.