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A public meeting discussing improvements of safety, traffic flow and operation on State Route 160 was held Monday afternoon at Living Promise Lutheran Church

Working with the Lakeway Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, the study is addressing accessibility, new developments along the route, left turn movements at major unsignalized intersections, such as school traffic at Sulphur Springs Road and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, Old U.S. Highway 11E and South Sugar Hollow Road.

Among the locations include intersections with Old U.S. Highway 11E, Alpha-Valley Home Road (State Route 342), Maple Valley Road, South Sugar Hollow Road, Mayes Road, Dr. Martin Luther King Parkway, Sulphur Springs Road, Fish Hatchery Road, the U.S. Highway 25E/Davy Crockett Parkway southbound ramp, the U.S. 25E/Davy Crockett Parkway northbound ramp and Springvale Road.

Melody Butler, with CDM Smith, the consulting firm hired by the Tennessee Department of Transportation for the study, told citizens gathered in an online public survey 25 points of entry that were points of concern. Of the 25 points of entry on State Route 160, 11 points have been addressed in the latest study.

Types of issues in the survey were access, difficulty in turning onto the road, traffic congestion relief, safety, line of sight and alternative roadways. Safety was the overwhelmingly top concern from 900 survey participants. This was followed by congestion relief (432), access (207), line of sight (168), alternative roadways (38) and other (74).

When survey respondents were asked if the recurring congestion was occurring during the peak/rush hour, 200 respondents said that congestion was happing during the morning rush hour, 133 said that it happens during evening rush hour and 45 said that congestion doesn’t happen during rush hours. An overwhelming 750 respondents said that they had witnessed near misses or other unsafe behaviors happening in the areas of Sulphur Springs Road, Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard and U.S. 25E.

When asked what the state should invest funds in on the route, access management was top on the list, followed by lighting, traffic operations and grade separated interchanges.

“We understand that there are safety concerns as well,” Butler said. “The purpose of this meeting is to show what we’ve come up with so far and get your feedback. From here, we’ll design our concepts and provide the final report with all of our recommendations.”

The recommendations were made to help alter how left-turn movements occur, simplify decision-making for drivers and minimize potential for higher severity crashes, whether they be head-on and angle crashes.

“These are counter measures from the Federal Highway Administration that are proven to help with safety and make things flow better,” Butler said. “Instead of making direct left turns onto or off of SR 160, you would probably make a right turn, then a U-turn in some locations.”

Butler said that in addition to traffic signals, R-turns, U-turns, limiting median openings that can help keep free flow along the route and make turning safer. According to FAA statistics, R-turns result in a 40% reduction in travel time. Median U-turns, which causes traffic to bypass a left turn to a U-turn area past there, show a 50% improvement.

R-turns, also known as J-turns, super streets and reduced conflict intersections. From a side road, one would not be able to make a left turn.

“Studies show that these reduce conflict points,” Butler said. “In a regular intersection, there are 32 conflict points. 16 of them are crossing. With R-turns and median U-turns, those conflict points are cut in half. It reduces the most severe type of crashes.”

Butler said that the median U-turns result in 75% reduction in conflict points. and the R-turns result in an 87% reduction in conflict points.

Plans call for traffic lights to be placed at the U.S. 25E northbound and southbound ramps off of SR 160 due to heavy traffic, which would be less expensive than land acquisition for a ramp.

A map of the entire route was on a table, along with stacks of “sticky” notes for residents to leave comments on for the consultants and TDOT.

A follow-up meeting will be held in 6 to 8 weeks.