$14.6 million grant will change face of south end of Dunlap, Tennessee

New sidewalks, pedestrian network and bridges, bike lanes, wireless broadband on tap

Staff photo by Ben Benton / The crosswalk leading pedestrians and cyclists on the Coops Creek Greenway across Rankin Avenue, shown Thursday, is dangerous, according to residents of Dunlap, Tenn., who hope the crosswalk is part of improvements included in a $14.6 million federal grant.
Staff photo by Ben Benton / The crosswalk leading pedestrians and cyclists on the Coops Creek Greenway across Rankin Avenue, shown Thursday, is dangerous, according to residents of Dunlap, Tenn., who hope the crosswalk is part of improvements included in a $14.6 million federal grant.

DUNLAP, Tenn. -- A $14.6 million federal grant for infrastructure improvements could change the face of the south end of Dunlap, Tennessee, but many details will arise from public planning meetings as ideas are tweaked.

"It's the biggest project since they put in Highway 127 to begin with," Dunlap Mayor Clint Huth said Thursday at his City Hall office. "It's the largest grant the city's ever received."

Plans include bicycle lanes, Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant pathways, vehicle lanes, stormwater runoff management, new curbs and curb ramps, a new network of pedestrian walks, crossing points, pedestrian bridges and wireless broadband along Rankin Avenue, the city's main drag, according to Huth and federal officials.

The project area runs from just north of the Coops Creek Bridge on U.S. Highway 127/Rankin Avenue to the intersection with State Route 28 and Main Street, according to Huth. One idea for that intersection -- which also is near the county's three schools and would handle much of the traffic at arrival and dismissal times -- is a roundabout which, if built, would be a first for Sequatchie County, Huth said.

Stormwater improvements are a longtime need, Huth said. Dunlap floods when lengthy, heavy rains soak the Sequatchie Valley and push its namesake river out of its banks along with Coops Creek, a tributary that runs through the center of town before emptying into the Sequatchie River and then on to the Tennessee River.

(READ MORE: Chattanooga to replace aging Wilcox Bridge with support of $25 million federal grant)

Dunlap was one of three Tennessee cities awarded a portion of $63 million in August from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity program to help move forward on projects that modernize roads, bridges, transit, rail, ports and intermodal transportation and make transportation systems safer, more accessible, more affordable and more sustainable.

Total allocations nationwide include more than $2.2 billion contained in President Joe Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provides an additional $7.5 billion over five years for the program.

Tennessee's U.S. House Republicans, Chuck Fleischmann, Tim Burchett, Scott DesJarlais, John Rose, Mark Green and David Kustoff, voted against the plan while Democrats Jim Cooper and Steve Cohen voted in favor. Tennessee Sens. Bill Hagerty and Marsha Blackburn, both Republicans, also voted against Biden's plan.

"We are proud to support so many outstanding infrastructure projects in communities large and small, modernizing America's transportation systems to make them safer, more affordable, more accessible and more sustainable," U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a news release on the grant. "Using funds from President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this year we are supporting more projects than ever before."

(READ MORE: Chattanooga's EPB to add fast chargers, join the Fast 50 network to boost electric vehicle use)

The project will improve safety for nonmotorized travelers by adding bicycle and pedestrian improvements where there were previously none, federal officials said. The project will reduce conflict points and enable traffic calming measures, which will create a safer environment for the traveling public. Federal officials said the project includes cleaning and redeveloping contaminated sites along the corridor and addressing stormwater runoff.


Roundabout doubts

The roundabout idea raised the ire of folks at the family-run Small Town Treasures store Thursday on the north end of the project area at the shoulderless, two-lane Coops Creek Bridge, where the Coops Creek Greenway path crosses Rankin Avenue.

Lora Cartwright, the owner of the store, and Jennifer Martin, another member of the store family, said they liked the idea of sidewalks and better pedestrian access, but what they said was needed most was a safer way for pedestrians and bicyclists on the Coops Creek Greenway to cross heavily traveled Rankin Avenue.

The greenway's white, painted pedestrian crosswalk across Rankin Avenue is often ignored by motorists, Cartwright and Martin said. They suggested a four-way traffic signal.

Cartwright said Fred, the unofficial town dog in Dunlap, was nearly struck by a car a while back as she and he walked from the greenway to cross the road together and Fred, a mixed-breed, older dog, didn't wait.

Fred, whom Cartwright includes among Dunlap's pedestrians, is leashed all the time now when they walk on the greenway, she said.

Snoozing contentedly on the store floor, Fred seemed unconcerned. Cartwright and others sort of adopted Fred, she said, after his owner passed away and folks around town started taking care of him.

Martin and Cartwright said drivers in Dunlap wouldn't like the roundabout, and neither do they. The two women also said drivers on Rankin Avenue exceed the speed limit with regularity and something needed to be done to slow them down.

Huth said traffic should flow much better once the improvements -- especially to the Coops Creek Bridge -- are complete. He said "traffic calming," as he understands it, can be features like landscaping and aesthetic improvements that take the edge off jittery drivers. The mayor said some of the technology discussed in the grant is still being tweaked, and he wasn't sure how autonomous vehicle technology -- mentioned in federal grant information -- might come into play for Dunlap.

Huth, who before being elected mayor in 2021 was Dunlap's longtime police chief, said city and state officials will study ideas for the best solution, and the public will be invited to add input as the project develops.

The mayor predicted the roundabout idea wouldn't be popular but said he thought if that becomes the design, people might like it better once they get used to it.

Huth said ideas for a possible way to take the walking path under the Coops Creek Bridge would be studied. He noted the work funded by the grant will be connected to ongoing projects at Harris Park and the Valley Fest property, closer to the center of town.

Cartwright and Martin on Thursday were still dubious, particularly of the roundabout.

"There are some people who have lived here all their lives, and they don't like change," Cartwright said, counting herself among them. "But we're willing to accept the changes if it's going to benefit us and not cause any harm or damage.


OTHER TENNESSEE GRANT RECIPIENTS

The U.S. Department of Transportation in August awarded $63 million to support three projects in Tennessee from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity program to help move forward on projects that modernize roads, bridges, transit, rail, ports and intermodal transportation, and make public transportation systems safer, more accessible, more affordable and more sustainable. The other two Tennessee recipients were:

— Morristown will receive $23.4 million to narrow the roadway from four to three lanes, add sidewalks, a multiuse path, landscaping, lighting and signage on state Route 343/South Cumberland Street, as well as updating approximately 13 traffic signals. The project will improve safety by reducing speed and creating space for a sidewalk on one side and a 10-foot-wide multiuse path on the other.

The project will provide equitable, nonmotorized transportation by including crosswalk painting, pedestrian traffic signals and Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant features for both the intersections and sidewalks. The project will also restore and modernize infrastructure that runs through a disadvantaged and underserved community.

— The city of Chattanooga will receive $25 million to replace the Wilcox Boulevard bridge and will construct a 12.5-foot multiuse path on the southern edge of the project. The current bridge that spans the rail yard is in a deteriorated condition and as a result has a load limit which forces emergency vehicles, trucks and public transit buses to take long detours.

The replacement bridge will accommodate these heavier vehicles and eliminate the need for detour. The proposed project will provide underserved communities with more reliable transportation to jobs, schools, recreation and businesses.

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation

Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton. 


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