It was a case of good news, bad news for DeKalb County this past week when TDOT officials announced progress is going forward on Highway 56 from Warren County but the dangerous stretch of road near Alexandria still remains on the drawing board.
“We hope to let the bidding to construction this fall,” announced Joe Gerhig of the Tennessee Department of Transportation in a meeting hosted by State Senator Mark Pody and State Representatives Terri Lynn Weaver and Clark Boyd. “It will start with two lanes.”
While starting with two lanes with extended shoulders and a middle turn lane, the long-range plans are to extended the entire road, from Highway 287 in Warren County to south Smithville into a four-lane. A public meeting concerning the project is expected to be called in June where they will talk about all three phases beginning with the stretch from 287 in Warren County to the county line then to Magness Road and then finally to south Smithville.
While it was good news for Highway 56, the news was mixed for a section of road near Alexandria which includes Highway 53 and Highway 96.
“The right of way was acquired already,” revealed Wes Hughen of the TDOT, saying that, while there was preliminary work in obtaining land for the project nearly 10 years ago, there is no funding for it.
His revelation prompted some in the audience to question how the project around state highway 26 fell through the cracks after some buildings were demolished and businesses closed in preparation for the road work. TDOT officials along with Senator Pody said they would look into the issue with Pody pointing out that things done by prior administrations could have been lost in the shuffle. However, he pointed out that the governor’s Improve Act has allowed for 962 projects to be conducted on roads state-way, one of which will improve part of the area that includes Highway 53 and Highway 96.
As for the planned beginning of work on Highway 56, Hughen said to first expect to see work on moving utilities out of the way before major earth moving. He added that the hold up on Highway 56 has been the approval of environmental plans for the project.
“We’ve been waiting for a federal environmental document,” he said, noting a lot of the problems with the DeKalb projects and projects in many areas is requirements that if streams are breached, they have to be replaced, the environmental work causing delays to the main projects.
