A 1.5-mile connector road from U.S. Highway 64 to State Route 50 west of Winchester, Tenn., that has been discussed since the 1990s, finally has the green light for construction.
The new $8.34 million connector will improve safety for travelers coming and going through Franklin County from Fayetteville, Lynchburg and the Tims Ford State Rustic Park area, Franklin County Mayor Richard Stewart said.
Planned 1.5-mile connector road from U.S. Highway 64 to State Route 50 in Winchester, Tenn.Although formal planning began around 2007, Stewart said the idea goes back nearly 20 years.
Stewart said he was mayor of Winchester when the death of a young woman on Highway 50 got people talking about the road's safety, especially on the end near town. Highway 50 is a two-lane stretch with narrow, grassy shoulders that runs from Only, Tenn., in Hickman County to Altamont in Grundy County.
Highway 50 is a good road, but "just coming into town is where it's real bad coming across the lake," he said.
"It'll be a lot safer," Stewart said.
The connector also will divert truck traffic from Winchester's town square and improve the commutes for many workers at the Nissan plant, he said. Access to a new city marina should be improved as well.
Tennessee Department of Transportation officials said Highway 50 has an average daily traffic volume of 2,746 vehicles.
Bids were supposed to be opened in March but that date "was pushed back due to uncertainty with funding relating to the [federal] Highway Trust Fund," TDOT spokeswoman Jennifer Flynn said.
TDOT had to adjust bidding and construction schedules because the department "did not have sufficient federal funds to authorize the scheduled project phase at the time," Flynn said.
The contract was awarded in July to Jackson, Tenn.-based Dement Construction Co. Officials say work will be finished by the end of April 2017. TDOT and the contractor still have to finish all the paperwork and hold a pre-construction conference, Flynn said.
"After the pre-construction conference, the contractor is free to begin work on the project," she said. "It will still be several weeks until you will see any work on the project."
Stewart said he was happy to see a better, safer route between the two highways.
"It should curtail some of the truck traffic going that direction, too," Stewart said.
Contact staff writer Ben Ben ton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or twitter.com/BenBenton or www.facebook.com/ben.benton1 or 423-757-6569.