Byrdstown Study To Explore 111 Changes

Byrdstown wants to reduce the speed limit for the portion of Highway 111 running through the town.

Mayor Sam Gibson said T-DOT originally denied the town’s request to change the speed limit citing a lack of data. Now, the town will conduct a corridor study on the state route for T-DOT to review.

“The town of Byrdstown is really concerned about the safety in that area,” Gibson said. “We are going to spend some money to try to find out if there are improvements to make that road much safer.”

Gibson said increased traffic and accidents in the area are mainly due to multiple businesses and county buildings located off the bypass. Gibson said travelers from Kentucky often use Highway 111 to reach Tennessee, which increases traffic numbers. Gibson said the town also wants to add a turn lane on the bypass to reduce traffic.

“The study is the first phase of this,” Gibson said. “We need to do the study and get some professional advice and that goes along with other things to get them done. Without having a lot of data to give TDOT, they pretty much said to do a study for more information.”

The corridor study is possible through a Community Transportation Planning Grant from the state. Gibson said the grant is worth around $45,000 grant with a 10 percent match from Byrdstown.

“This study will help us address a lot of the issues taking place there,” Gibson said. “We have more and more business and more and more accidents happen there.”