News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
New traffic signals are coming to the intersection of U.S 70 North and Gainesboro Highway in Baxter as part of a T-DOT intersection improvement project.
T-DOT Community Relations Officer Jennifer Flynn said along with the traffic signals, a 1000 foot left turn lane will be added to the eastern side of the intersection.
“Sometimes the thing that takes the longest time in the project is getting the right signal poles delivered,” Flynn said. “Once those are delivered, usually things go quickly after that. Of course, there is some widening as part of this one.”
Flynn said delivery of the arms that hold the traffic signals have caused delays for other intersection improvements this year. This equipment can not be ordered until a bid winner for the project is announced in March.
“We have had some issues in the past just getting the right signal equipment,” Flynn said. “It is not something that you can pre-order. The contractor whoever wins the bid would have to order the appropriate equipment to do the project. We have seen some delays. Hopefully, things will approve by March.”
Flynn said the Baxter intersection improvement has a shorter time frame of completion compared to other larger T-DOT widening projects. T-DOT traffic engineers conducted a traffic study for the intersection resulting in the planned improvements.
“They will do a traffic study to see if it meets warrants, basically that is a fancier way of saying it qualifies to get a traffic signal,” Flynn said. “Sometimes a traffic signal is not the one size fits all solution. A traffic signal put in the wrong location can cause more problems then it helps.”
A completion date will be announced sometime next year when the advertisement for bids come out.
