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An Open Letter to Mr. Winston Gaffron regarding Exit 1

By David W. Shelton | December 18, 2006 |

I was notified of a comment to my earlier piece on Exit 1 this morning, which had some great information for this critical issue.  He said that we needed to redirect our attention at the source. I agree. With that said, this is the letter that I sent to Mr. Winston Gaffron as well as all of the relevant city and county officials:

Dear Mr. Gaffron,

I am writing in regards to a critical situation that has been a matter of intense frustration for myself and other residents in this area. The growth in this part of Clarksville and Montgomery County has been completely explosive to the point that the roads simply can not handle it.

Several subdivisions and apartment complexes have been built in the last two years. All of them are in this immediate area. Just last week, TVA announced the certification of a large parcel of land between Tylertown Road and US 79 as a “megasite.” What will happen when (and if) a manufacturer builds a facility there? Of course, there will be an even larger increase of traffic. We simply MUST be prepared. The recent debacle over Dunlap Lane near the hospital construction site is a situation that we simply can not afford.

Mr. Gaffron, I cannot stress this enough. ALL of the roads in the area desperately need to be widened to at least five lanes with a turning lane. The Tiny Town Road widening is already well underway, but even a casual observer knows that it’s too little, too late. The roads in question are Trenton Road, Tylertown Road, and of course, Tiny Town Road.

A stoplight is needed at the west-bound off ramp on I-24, exit 1 immediately. Further, the stoplight at Tiny Town and Trenton Road needs to be adjusted so that it will allow traffic to move more smoothly. Traffic is backed up nearly a quarter mile every day starting at about 4:00 and it gets worse each week.

This area has been ignored for far too long. The time for action is now. If you’d like to conduct a study, then I invite you to take a single afternoon and just watch how traffic flows (or doesn’t flow) at this interchange. This is already a critical situation, and it’s only a matter of time before someone gets hurt or killed.

Finally, we’ve been told that Jim Durrett, director of the Clarksville Street Department, has submitted a warrant request for a traffic light at this intersection over two months ago. Mr. Durrett also said that he has had no response so far. Can you explain this? I believe it’s absolutely essential that we get this project underway as quickly as possible. Thank you for your immediate response.

Sincerely,

David W. Shelton

About David W. Shelton

Posts by David W. Shelton are copyright (c)2006, 2007, 2008 by the author. All rights reserved. David W. Shelton is a writer, speaker and activist in Clarksville, and serves on the Clarksville Human Relations Commission. His passions include film and complete equality for all people, and he has worked in various capacities to work toward this goal. He is currently an illustrator, graphic designer, trainer, and is the owner of Imagine Media Solutions. He is an Adobe® Certified Instructor in Photoshop®.

Web Site: http://www.skippingtothepiccolo.com/

Email: dwshelton@att.net

Sections: Issues, News
Topics: Exit 1, Jim Durrett, Street Department, Tiny Town Road, Trenton Road, Tylertown Road

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