North Dixie and Jere Whitson Paving to Begin

Work crews will begin paving North Dixie Avenue and Jere Whitson Road on Monday.

Public Works Director Greg Brown said milling on the streets finished on Thursday.

“We haven’t actually started paving. We are milling some of the existing asphalt out to establish our curb relief, where there are sidewalks and curbs along both,” Brown said. “And they should have finished that up late yesterday afternoon. And we are supposed to start paving, weather holds, starting Monday.”

Brown said crews should finish the paving before Jere Whitson Elementary comes back from fall break.

“We will be finished with it unless it just rains us out just all next week,” Brown said. “We will be finished with it and it should be stripped by end of next week.”

The Cookeville City Council approved an additional  250 thousand dollars for the paving projects at the September meeting. The city already completed approximately 625 thousand dollars worth of paving.

“We had paved all the roads between Jere Whitson and 12th and Willow and Washington. They were pretty rough from all the utility construction that had happened,” Brown said. “So to get them all done, we needed to add a little bit more money to get Dixie and Jere Whitson finished. And that is what we are in the process of doing right now.”

Brown said drivers should try to avoid the paving areas in order for crews to work efficiently.

“Be patient when the crews are trying to pave. Try to maybe avoid those areas next week, the first part of next week,” Brown said. “We will try to get it completed as soon as possible.”