Tech Improving Roads and Pedestrian Access

Tennessee Tech is gearing up for a large-scale improvement project for five roads.

Vice President for Facilities and Business Services Chuck Roberts said the goal is to improve campus for pedestrians and mitigate construction damage. Roberts said the work will be done in phases and has an 18 month projection for construction.

“We think definitely Peachtree Avenue is going to be the first one,” Roberts said. “Then they’ll start transitioning over to University Drive, and just try and keep the traffic flow going without as much impact. So we’ll have to keep a look at that.”

The other roads slotted for construction are North Dixie Avenue, West 10th Street and Stadium Drive. Roberts said that unfortunately, work will likely begin during the fall semester.

Roberts said vehicle traffic in the heart of campus has been deemed unnecessary, and the school wants to create more walkways for students.

“On Peachtree we’re going to be cutting a little bit of that off,” Roberts said. “And making that a pedestrian way, but access routes for emergency vehicles. So basically from Wings Up Way, all the way up to the library you’re going to have a walking path, a large walking path.”

Roberts said North Dixie Avenue will see a decrease in vehicle traffic once the project is completed.

“We’re going to cut that down from the four lanes down to two lanes,” Roberts said. “Then put a nice median in there.”

He said West 10th Street, Stadium and University Drives all have the same needs. Roberts said they have seen the affects of multiple construction projects.

“It’s kind of torn up the roads with all the heavy equipment,” Roberts said. “It’s basically just cleaning up a lot of the road network.”

Roberts said there will be some infrastructure that has to be moved during this process. He said that includes steam lines and choke water lines.