Lenoir City officials held a public meeting Thursday
at First Baptist Church of Lenoir City in which
residents could ask questions or give input on the
East Simpson Road project, which is a plan to widen
the road from 20 feet to 26 feet.
Engineering firm Vaughn & Melton shared design plans
during the meeting. Engineer Jason Elliott was
scheduled to be in attendance, but was not present
due to illness.
Thursday was the first time the design plan for
the project, which will stretch from U.S.
Highway 321 to Shaw Ferry Road, was presented to
the public.
Lenoir City Assistant Administrator Amber Scott
previously said the firm, which was brought on
board in October, had presented preliminary
plans to city officials.
“With all the commercial development going on
there with the Walmart, Home Depot, all that
commercial and retail developments that they’ve
got going on has increased the traffic volume on
that road, as well as the number of people
coming to and from the church that sits up on
the hill, First Baptist Church, has led to
increased volumes in traffic there,” Scott said.
“And so with increased traffic volumes comes a
need for a wider roadway to increase safety for
the motoring public.”
A left turn lane will be placed going into First
Baptist Church.
Scott said questions and input from the meeting
will be given to Vaughn & Melton for
consideration regarding any modifications. The
design plans will then be submitted to the
Tennessee Department of Transportation for
right-of-way acquisition.
“Then that will begin investigating the parcels
there to be affected by the widening, whether we
need to purchase easements or rights-of-way for
the project to move forward, and then that is a
huge process because you meet with each
individual property owner in depth, multiple
meetings, to discuss the right-of-way
acquisition or easement needed for the project,”
Scott said.
Funds obtained for the project were secured
through the Knoxville Regional Transportation
Planning Organization, Scott said.
The federal grant, which is available through
the Federal Highway Administration Surface
Transportation Program, requires a 20 percent
local match, Pat Phillips, Loudon County
Economic Development Agency president, said.
Both the city and county will both be
responsible for 10 percent since part of the
street is in the county. The grant comes in at
$997,000.
In addition to widening the road, a sidewalk
will be placed on the west side of the street,
Phillips said. The sidewalk will improve
pedestrian access and meet grant funding
requirements.
“When you use federal funds on a project like
this, you have to make a case that sidewalks are
not needed or not practical,” Phillips said,
adding the sidewalk would be a good connection
to U.S. Highway 321.
Lenoir City residents Ron and Cindy Workman, who
live on East Simpson Road, expressed concern
about having a sidewalk tacked onto the road.
Ron Workman said he felt the sidewalk wasn’t
needed if only a couple people use it.
“If you’re going to put in a sidewalk and you
have a neighborhood that has sidewalks in it
where you connect to the places, I mean that’s
fine,” Ron Workman said. “But you have one road
with no sidewalks anywhere around it, that don’t
make any sense. There’s no justification for the
sidewalk.”
Lenoir City resident Melvin Griffin said he
believes the road widening will actually
increase traffic.
“I understand why we’re doing it,” Griffin said.
“It’s for the church and the businesses, I
understand that part. But I don’t understand why
we have to take the brunt of everything, you
know?”
Phillips said construction on the project could
begin in the second quarter of next year.
“That’s purposely slow,” Scott said. “It’s
deliberately that way because you’re dealing
with people’s property, and I wouldn’t want to
estimate that (completion date). We would
probably hope to begin construction in spring,
maybe spring of next year, late spring, early
summer of next year.”