Rep. Williams: TDOT’s Baxter Project Could Take Four Years Or Less

Representative Ryan Williams said that TDOT’s I-40 project in Baxter could happen at a completely different rate than has been done before.

Williams said that the governor included some additional monies for roads set aside to address traffic concerns in rural Tennessee, with Baxter is one of the biggest recipients.

“It takes about 16 years to get a project funded, but this wasn’t even on anyone’s list,” Williams said. “So we’re really excited about it and it’s going to make a huge impact to Baxter, particularly with Portobello and what’s going on with the tile plant because they’re going to be having 100 trucks a day coming through that intersection.”

Williams said that as of recent discussions, there will be a new signalized intersection going towards the Love’s. He said that they’re going to try and see how much work a little over $22 million can cover moving towards I-70.

Williams said that the biggest challenge in the project will come from the bridges. He said that they need to make sure there is enough space under the bridges to widen the road to the necessary three lanes.

“The big challenge we’re going to have and have to have discussions about is whether or not we can get enough width under the bridges that are currently there in order to get a turn lane,” Williams said. “Or whether we’re going to have to replace bridges which would consume a lot of the resources we’ve set aside for it. If we could somehow make the current bridges work, then obviously we’ll have more money to be spent on the roads.”

Williams said that in conversations with TDOT, the project could take four years or less.