Scenic Byway Meeting Set For December 19th

A meeting will be held later this month to discuss potential projects for the Walton Road Scenic Byway.

Dawn Kuperfer of Kwill Consultants said there’s hope that the federal and state governments will release funding for the byway.

“We’re asking stakeholders to come from all four counties, which would be Roane, Cumberland, Putnam and Smith Counties,” Kupferer said. “We’re going to see if there’s any projects that might be submitted to TDOT for funding. We are just encouraging people to come look through the plan again and refresh their memories on what projects they were looking to fund.”

Kupferer said the Walton Road Scenic Byway runs 90 miles along Highway 70 North from Roane County to Smith County.

“It was the very first road over the rugged Cumberland Plateau and it was built in 1801,” Kupferer said. “The scenic byway is a way to interpret that road so small communities along that route can see new visitors coming in. Byways have always been tourist attractions, whether it be on a national scale or regional scale.”

Kwill Consultants and the UCDD completed a corridor management plan for the Walton Road Scenic Byway in 2013, but funding was never released for the projects.

The meeting will take place December 19th at 10:00 a.m. inside the Monterey Depot Museum.