It may not help traffic now, but it might give you something to hope for.
On Monday night, the Williamson County Commission gave its go ahead on a traffic study. The study will look at whether or not traffic justifies adding a new interchange to Interstate 65 at the Buckner Road area in Spring Hill.
The resolution passed 20-0, despite a 5-4 vote against by the Budget Committee.
“Spring Hill has asked us to act as a conduit,” Tommy Little, representing District 5, said. “It doesn’t cost us anything, but attaching our name adds weight to the study for Spring Hill.”
An existing study is several years old- and outdated, said Little. That study looked at the possibility of an interchange between Peytonsville Road and Saturn Parkway.
The vote authorized county mayor Rogers Anderson to execute a contract with Volkert, Inc. to conduct the Interchange Justification study. The study will cost $105,000. Contingent upon resolution, Spring Hill will reimburse the county for the costs of obtaining the study.
“The City of Spring Hill has budgeted $105,000 to pay for studying the supplemental items that the state is now requesting to expand the scope of the existing I-65 interchange justification study,” said Spring Hill communications officer Jamie Page. “The state now wants to see a larger area of related roadway studied to determine the greater traffic impacts this interchange could have on the surrounding area.”
The study dovetails with the recent plan to widen Buckner Road, potentially greasing the tracks to handle the increased traffic an interchange would inevitably load onto the area.
In February, the County announced a plan to open Buckner Road from two to five lanes that would cost up to $16.8 million.
The proposed plan included a roundabout and right-of-way acquisition, engineering and construction will total approximately $16.8 million. Without a roundabout, the widening cost totals approximately $15.3 million.
The Buckner Road proposal is aimed at accommodating the future traffic needs if the Tennessee Department of Transportation constructs a new I-65 interchange at Buckner. The necessary land acquisition for the widening would impact an estimated 110 properties.
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