Environmental study under way for Dayton-Tennessee River segment of Highway 30

The Tennessee Department of Transportation is eyeing options for state Highway 30 improvements in Rhea County.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation is eyeing options for state Highway 30 improvements in Rhea County.

ENVIRONMENTAL PHASE TIMELINE

Summer 2014: Project kickoff Fall 2014: Public meeting Winter-Spring 2014-2015: Conduct technical studies Summer-Fall 2015: Preparation of environmental assessment document Spring 2016: Hold public hearing and select preferred alternative Summer 2016: Complete environmental assessment Source: Tennessee Department of Transportation FIND OUT MORE Go to www.tdot.state.tn.us/sr30 to find out more details and information on the Highway 30 improvement proposals.

DAYTON, Tenn. -- The section of the improvement project for state Highway 30 in Rhea County could take one of a couple of proposed routes into Dayton if the project goes forward.

An environmental study now being performed will provide the Tennessee Department of Transportation as well as residents information on negative and positive impacts the project will have on the area.

But most people along the route see more positives than negatives at this point and say Highway 30, which in Rhea County has remained practically unchanged for years, needs to be wider and safer.

Melanie Rievley's family business, Mr. Floor Covering, is at the Dayton city limits where Blueberry Hill Road intersects Highway 30 near a sharp curve.

"This road definitely needs something done to it," Rievley said as she looked out on the busy highway on Thursday afternoon. "It's long overdue."

The project might even force the business to relocate, but the need for improvements is too great to stand in the way, she said.

Mike Patel owns the Rocky Food Mart a couple miles west of the Tennessee River and lives in Dayton, so he makes frequent trips along the stretch TDOT is studying.

Patel says the road needs shoulders to make it safer for traffic, which he says is very heavy during rush hours. He also said he's a little worried about how much his small parking lot could be impacted by construction.

The opening of a new bridge over the Tennessee River on Highway 30 in 1994 created a quick route between Decatur and Dayton, idling the old Washington Ferry at the western foot of the new bridge and bringing with it traffic from the other side.

TDOT project managers Chester Sutherland and Scott Medlin say Highway 30 is considered a major east-west travel corridor. The highway stretches from the Ocoee River in Polk County to McMinnville in Warren County, passing through Etowah, Athens, Decatur, Dayton, Pikeville and Spencer.

"The project has been ranked as a high priority by the South East Tennessee Rural Planning Organization for several years in a row," Sutherland and Medlin said in an email. "This section of roadway has numerous deficiencies as well as a higher than average crash rate."

The Highway 30 Economic Development Coalition and the Southeast Tennessee Development District Rural Planning Organization started planning for the proposed road project in 2006.

The first proposal, estimated at $13 million, would take the existing Highway 30 route into Dayton, intersecting U.S. Highway 27 near the Bryan College campus. An alternative route estimated at $70.1 million branches off existing Highway 30 onto White Oak Road to intersect Highway 27 about three miles to the north, according to TDOT officials.

There's also an option to leave Highway 30 as it is.

The first option would include work to straighten and level the existing road to "bring this route up to a 50 mph standard," said Medlin and Sutherland. Because of a reduced footprint, this option also would have less of an environmental impact though some design exceptions might be required in certain locations.

The second option using White Oak Road would consist of 12-foot-wide lanes and 12-foot-wide graded shoulders, including truck passing lanes where needed. The project managers said Highway 30 on the Meigs County side of the river features 12-foot lanes and shoulders with truck lanes almost to Decatur. East of Decatur, Highway 30 is a four-lane divided highway most of the way from Decatur to U.S. Highway 411 in McMinn County.

The environmental assessment is expected to be finished by next summer and will lead to a selection from the options for design, followed by right-of-way acquisition and construction.

While officials say there is no way to say how long the segment would take to construct, typical projects "generally have a proposed timeline from two to three years for completion."

Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or twitter.com/BenBenton or www.facebook.com/ben.benton1 or 423-757-6569.

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