From another thread in "Local News":
(06-08-2010 08:53 PM)Ellen Smith Wrote: [ -> ]...
Lately, Both Oak Ridge and the planning region to which the city belongs had agreed that "widening Edgemoor Road" was our highest priority. That agreement was a good thing -- it appears to have helped expedite that project, which clearly is needed to relieve congestion and support future development.
Now that the Turnpike project is well on its way to completion, I can understand a discussion about the next items on the priority list for Oak Ridge. However, this one begs some questions; namely, are we setting as a priority, a project that will make it yet easier for folks to live outside the city and commute in?
While I understand that folks in Park Meade and Rivers Run would undoubtedly appreciate easing the congestion on Edgemoor Road, I can also see this project having the same net result as the Pellissippi Parkway improvements: making it easier and faster for folks who don't live here to leave at the end of the workday.
It would probably open up a lot of lakefront property just across the bridge, stretching all the way back to the Turnpike/61 just across from Elza Gate. A different alternative might be to try to open up some lakefront within the city limits, say from Solway Bridge back to Freels Bend.
That would create some homes that might keep some of the upper end Y-12 and ORNL folks in town -- and bicycling distance to work!
More expressways into and out of Oak Ridge for people that work here and so far there are no cameras planned for Edgemore.
The Edgemore project is a good thing with the marina redevelopment but it's to think there will not be a down side for Oak Ridge.
Just to be clear, the Edgemoor Rd (SR 170) expansion is designed to be an extension of the Pellissippi to Interstate 75. Parts of the project include access control. It would serve as a way for people in Blount County (airport) to get to north I75 and people on east I 40 to get to north I75.
It may well be the Knoxville bypass right through here in river city. That is a "major city priority" as opposed to the redesign of an intersection.
NM: I understand your concern, but please remember that there are plenty of people who live in Oak Ridge and need to commute out of the city in the morning and commute into the city at night. Please don't forget about those people and how the widening of Edgemoor Road will help them.
Also, there are plenty of Oak Ridgers who do
have to go into Knox County on occasion after work. And I don't mean to shop. The widening projects will help them, as well.
Not every issue for this city needs to revolve around getting more people to live here. I know it'd be nice for tax purposes, but there are days when I REALLY like the fact that all those crazy Knox County and Blount County drivers head out of our town at the end of the day.
Opus, maybe I don't understand the Edgemoor project. I thought it was an expansion of the part from Solway bridge eastward, across to Bull Run and maybe all the way through to Clinton Highway. If that's the case, it really wouldn't affect travel to and from Knoxville via Pellissippi for most people.
What it would do is open the corridor to south Anderson and north Knox Counties.
If I've got this totally wrong, help me out.
Interesting point of view. I assume that the new wider roads will go both ways. If Oak Ridge were a more desirable place for folks to live then perhaps there would be more traffic congestion, in the evening, on the side of the road leading into Oak Ridge.
(06-09-2010 03:06 PM)Netmom Wrote: [ -> ]Opus, maybe I don't understand the Edgemoor project. I thought it was an expansion of the part from Solway bridge eastward, across to Bull Run and maybe all the way through to Clinton Highway. If that's the case, it really wouldn't affect travel to and from Knoxville via Pellissippi for most people.
What it would do is open the corridor to south Anderson and north Knox Counties.
If I've got this totally wrong, help me out.
I think you've got the right idea about the project as I understand it, and it seems to jive with what Cracker has described over on the "Boeing Overpass" thread. In fact, Cracker implies that TDOT will eventually widen Racoon Valley Rd all the way to I-75.
My poing is that not everyone leaving Oak Ridge to go to Knoxville wants to go via Pellissippi. A lot of people need to get to Clinton Hwy and head into Knoxville that way, and they want to avoid going to Clinton via the Turnpike. I used to do it once or twice a week for about a year. Another advantage will be in trying to get out of Oak Ridge when there's a wreck in Solway and the traffic is backed up to the Boeing Overpass or even the Illinois/Lafayette intersection.
Daco: good point!
Regarding Edgemoor, as an "Eastender" I've often sit in the long line of eastbound traffic which back up every afternoon from the Melton Lake Drive intersection. Lot's of Oak Ridgers are affected daily by the capacity problems associated with that intersection. When you consider the Centennial Village apartments under construction, the Centennial Bluff project, etc. the problem is only going to get worse.
In March a group from Oak Ridge met with TDOT Commissioner Nicely and chief engineer Paul Degges. Edgemoor Road (State Route 170) was part of that discussion. The Commissioner made it clear that the project wasn't high on the state's priority list but could move up the list substantially if the city would agree to fund the design and right of way acquisition. I have reviewed the TDOT planning report for this project. The report only covers the portion of the road between the Solway bridge and Clinton Highway. The project is broken into several segments with cost estimates for each. The bridge portion of the project is estimated to be extremely expensive.
The sense I got from the Commissioner was that the first segment of the project from the Solway bridge to Melton Lake Drive might happen in the mid-term future if the city decides to invest in the up front efforts but the remainder of the project is many years out.