Tech Can Move Forward With Dixie Re-Design

Tennessee Tech officials can move forward with plans to re-design Dixie Avenue to improve traffic flow.

Cookeville City Council approved unanimously a general design strategy to reduce the street to two lanes with improved pedestrian flow. The final master plan must still be designed by Tennessee Tech and approved by the city.

Planning Director James Mills said the city will be involved in that process.

Tech President Phillip Oldham, who attended the meeting, said in a letter to the city the current road structure does not provide “safe passage” to students walking through the area.

The current proposal would include a tree-lined median down the middle of Dixie Avenue and a portion of Mahler Avenue from Sixth Street to Eighth Street. Fencing would be installed to keep students from crossing except at established crosswalks.

Mills said the plan also calls for a roundabout to be placed at the intersections of Dixie, Mahler Avenue and Eighth Streets.