City of Clarksville
Clarksville, TN – The State of Tennessee and City of Clarksville officials have agreed on a plan to speed up widening and improving Trenton Road from Interstate 24 to the 101st Airborne Parkway.
Clarksville Mayor Kim McMillan announced Friday that Tennessee Department of Transportation officials had accepted the City of Clarksville’s offer to contribute $1.8 million to help acquire the necessary right of way for the project.
Trenton Road, also known as State Route 48, is a two-lane road that has grown into a major route connecting the rapidly developing residential areas in Northwest Clarksville with the city’s major commercial districts.
“This is great news for Clarksville motorists who use Trenton Road,” Mayor Kim McMillan said. “Our strong working relationship with TDOT and smart management of our financial resources will allow us to collaborate with the State and speed up completion of this much needed project.”
Thanks to legislative approval of the Improve Act in 2017, TDOT recently moved up work on the Trenton Road project, completing an environmental study and preliminary engineering work, and now has begun to develop right of way plans. Overall, costs for the 3.7 mile widening project is expected to total about $35.7 million.
“To assist TDOT in continuing to make improvements to the state transportation system in Clarksville, the City is willing to contribute financially during the right of way phase of this project, just as we did for Warfield Boulevard/State Route 374,” Mayor McMillan wrote in a letter to David Layhew, Director/Assistant Chief Engineer of TDOT Region 3.
Mayor McMillan met Wednesday with Paul Degges, TDOT Deputy Commissioner/Chief Engineer, and secured the agreement to partner on the project and keep it moving forward. The City and TDOT expect to complete a contract for the project next week, using the Warfield Boulevard agreement as a template. The City’s $1.8 million share will come from an existing City Road Improvement Special Revenue Fund.
Improvements to Trenton Road are linked to the plan to build a new City-built thoroughfare, known as the Northeast Connector, that will provide a new route between Wilma Rudolph Boulevard and Trenton Road. The City Council approved some $15 million in the 2019 budget for work on the Northeast Connector.
The Trenton Road announcement continues a trend of close cooperation between the City of Clarksville and TDOT to solve some of Clarksville’s most pressing road congestion problems.
In 2015, Mayor McMillan negotiated a similar contract with TDOT to speed up widening a section of Warfield Boulevard/SR 374 between Dunbar Cave Road and the 101st Airborne Parkway. That work, which includes major intersection improvements at Dunbar Cave Road and Rossview Road, is underway.
The City of Clarksville also secured a right-of-way and design agreement with TDOT to speed up improvements on Rossview Road near the Rossview Schools Campus.
