Waterville golf course changing to make way for wider highway

CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- Golfers are the next group to get ready for next spring's massive highway project on Dalton Pike.

The highway, from the APD 40 interchange south past Waterville Golf Course, will be straightened to eliminate sharp, dangerous curves and add two lanes and a turn lane, officials said.

Acquiring rights-of-way and razing or moving more than two dozen structures have been the focus of the summer.

Next is the golf course, a project by the Cleveland Public Works Department.

"We are ready to get into full swing when we have some dry weather," said Tom Grant, capital projects director for the Public Works Department.

"We have been ready to get started, but there has been so much rain," said Tommy Myers, public works director.

One fairway, No. 13, must be moved. Now located on the north side of the highway that bisects the course, it is in the path of the new lanes that will straighten one of the curves.

A maintenance building at the same location already is being moved to the opposite side of the course, alongside the No. 6 fairway, he said.

Work on the new maintenance building has been going well, Mr. Myers said, and the contractor now has a roof on the structure.

Golfers must give up Waterville Golf Course for about six months, including most of the summer, said Assistant City Manager Melinda Carroll.

"We will extend the memberships for people who have paid their dues already," she said.

When the new road is finished, plans call for pedestrian tunnels beneath the pavement to link both sides of the golf course, she said.

Planning and engineering work for the entire project were completed months ago, and public meetings about the route have been held for years.

Mr. Grant said moving utility lines must be completed before Tennessee Department of Transportation contractors begin the actual highway work, targeted to start in March or April 2010.

"The most important thing for the public to remember is patience and safety," Mr. Grant said. "It is a heavily traveled road. There's school traffic there. Some existing lanes will be closed. New lanes will be going in different places. But they won't close the highway."

A large church, Waterville Baptist, also is moving to a nearby location because the new highway comes very close to its front door.