BY KEN LITTLE
STAFF WRITER
A number of safety improvements to the intersection of State Route 107 at Edens Road are planned in the near future by the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT).
That's good news to members of the Tusculum Board of Mayor and Commissioners, which Monday night approved a contract with TDOT to get the project under way.
STATE FOOTS BILL
The cost of the safety improvements at the busy intersection is estimated at $179,000. No right-of-way purchases are necessary.
Mayor John Foster said work may not begin until 2014, but it is necessary to get the signed paperwork for TDOT in as soon as possible.
The city will be responsible for maintenance after the project is completed, but state funds will pay for all the work.
"This is all being done with state dollars, not Tusculum dollars," Vice Mayor Alan Corley said.
Replacing light bulbs and touching up road striping will be among the responsibilities of the city, Foster said.
"They're going to do a lot of work here," Foster said. "After this is all done, we have to maintain it."
Foster said discussions with the state about making safety improvements to the intersection date back to at least 2008.
It's used in the morning and afternoon by students and staff members going to Chuckey-Doak High School, parents dropping off their children at the middle school, by Greene Valley Developmental Center employees, by school buses for several schools and by Greene County-Greeneville EMS, which has a station on Edens Road.
The intersection is also the site of several serious wrecks in recent years, which may have attracted the attention of TDOT, Foster said.
"The state has decided to do a lot of work at that intersection," Foster said. "This one came to the top as a problem area."
The planned work includes the installation of fluorescent yellow crossroad signs on the approaches to the intersection and flashing beacons with four poles and two flashing beacons per approach, for a total of eight beacons.
"The assembly shall be constructed such that it can be converted to use for traffic signals in the future," according to a TDOT Safety Audit Review of the intersection that led to recommendations for the 17 improvements.
The competition for scarce dollars means the project probably won't be started next year, Foster said, making a prompt response to TDOT important.
"I'm really glad they're going to do this," he said. "The catch is they said it might be 2014 [before work begins]," Foster said.
SAFETY UPGRADES
The project includes the installation of:
* a fluorescent yellow crossroad sign on southbound Highway 107, exactly 800 feet north of the intersection with Edens Road;
* enhanced flatline thermoplastic 4-inch single solid-white edgelines along Highway 107, from 800 feet north of the intersection with Edens Road to 800 feet south.
* enhanced flatline thermoplastic 4-inch single broken-white lines along Highway 107, in both directions, from 800 feet north of the intersection with Edens Road to 800 feet south, and install white Mono-Directional Reflective Snowplowable Pavement Markers at 80-foot spacing along the broken-white lines.
* an enhanced flatline thermoplastic 4-inch single solid-yellow line and four 4-inch single broken-yellow line along Highway 107, in both directions, from 800 feet north of the intersection with Edens Road to 800 feet south, and install yellow Bi-Directional Reflective Snowplowable Pavement Markers at 80-foot spacing along the broken-yellow lines.
* Enhanced flatline thermoplastic 4-inch double solid yellow centerline and 4-inch single solid white edgelines along Edens Road beginning 270 feet west of the intersection with Highway 107.
* a 2-inch minimum-width yellow reflective strip along the existing Stop Ahead Sign on Edens Road.
* 50 feet of new guardrail, connecting to existing guardrail, install one Type 21 guardrail end terminal; and install 330 feet of continuous-white linear Guardrail Delineation Enhancement in the southwest quadrant of the intersection of Highway 107 and Edens Road.
* a 2-inch minimum width red reflective strip along the existing Stop Sign and install a stop bar 2 feet wide and 30 feet long on Edens Road.
* 200 feet of new guardrail, install one Type 38 guardrail end terminal, one Type 21 guardrail end terminal and install 250 feet of continuous white linear Guardrail Delineation Enhancement in the northwest quadrant of the intersection of Highway 107 and Edens Road.
* a flashing beacon assembly, with four strain poles and two flashing beacons per approach, for a total of eight beacons. The assembly shall be constructed such that it can be converted to use for traffic signals in the future.
* two supplemental flashing beacons on the pedestrian bridge for the northbound approach to the intersection.
* 250 feet of new guardrail, connecting to the existing guardrail; install one Type 38 guardrail end terminal, and install 370 feet of continuous white linear Guardrail Delineation Enhancement in the northeast quadrant of the intersection of Highway 107 and Edens Road.
* a 2-inch minimum red reflective strip along the existing Stop Sign and install a stop bar 2 feet wide and 20 feet long on Edens Road.
* 570 feet of continuous white linear Guardrail Delineation Enhancement to the existing guardrail in the southeast quadrant of the intersection of Edens Road and Highway 107.
* a 2-inch minimum width yellow reflective strip along the existing Stop Ahead sign on Edens Road.
* enhanced flatline thermoplastic 4-inch double solid yellow centerline and 4-inch single solid white edgelines along Edens Road beginning 230 feet east of the intersection with Erwin Highway.
* a fluorescent yellow Cross Road sign on northbound Erwin Highway, 800 feet south of the intersection with Edens Road.
