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With a decision imperative regarding a plan for traffic improvement on MLK Parkway and its intersection with the 160 Bypass, City of Morristown staff and stakeholders attended the final reveal of the SR160 corridor study on Thursday.

The Lakeway Area Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization ordered the study which was conducted by CDM Smith in Knoxville, a privately owned engineering and construction firm.

CDM Transportation Engineer Melody Butler presented the study results, which included a variety of concept-only solutions for concerns indicated in a public survey. The survey was available online Feb. 13 through March 10 with 639 participants.

“The city came to us and said, ‘Hey, we really need to think about SR160; traffic volumes are growing, we want to make sure this corridor remains a safe corridor and that people have access,’” Butler said. “A lot of the issues we saw were turning onto side roads and turning off side roads.”

The overall goal of the project was to improve the overall safety, traffic flow and operations for all modes of transportation along the SR-160 corridor, which includes 25 intersections.

“We know that this is a free-flow facilitator right now and that everyone wants to keep it that way, as a bypass for the city,” Butler said. “So we really had those things in mind and wanted to make sure we were thinking about congestion, future growth and safety.”

The study began in October 2022 with a kickoff meeting, followed by six stakeholder and two public meetings.

CDM also researched crash data along the corridor for a period of five years. Results indicated there were 560 total accidents, six were fatal and 25 were serious. There was one pedestrian fatality.

“A lot of those happened with (vehicle) runoffs the road or left-angle crashes at intersections,” Butler said.

The number one concern of survey participants was safety, with the three most dangerous areas identified as 1) the intersection with Sugar Hollow Road, 2) access in and out of MLK Parkway and Sulphur Springs Road and 3) the 25E interchange.

Congestion was rated as the number two concern, with the highest traffic concern along the corridor being access to and from MLK and Sulpher Springs.

The concept-only solutions presented on Thursday did not include any deep dives into the particulars of the options. Accurate cost estimates were not yet available through the Tennessee Department of Transportation, however option guestimates ranged from several hundred thousand to more than $45 million, depending on the complexity of the individual project concept and whether or not it would be a long-term solution.

The solutions for the MLK/Sulpher Springs, for example, ranged from installing J turns ($250,000) on SR160 near both intersections to lesson direct left turns onto the highway, a short-term solution that would accommodate predicted traffic growth for five years, to constructing an overpass with exit ramps ($45 million), a long-term solution that would require both long-term planning and funding from multiple sources, according to discussions in the meeting.

An option included in the mid-range cost category ($2.5 million) was to build a connector road from MLK to Sulphur Springs to alleviate backups on MLK for left turns onto 160. The option would require purchasing rights-of-way from two land owners and would also rely on J turns to disallow left turns onto 160.

Instead of motorists crossing fast-moving lanes of traffic to get to the opposing lanes, drivers at a J-turn intersection turn right in the same direction of traffic, merge into the left land and then make a U-turn in the direction they intend to travel.

“We know we’ve got a high priority for MLK,” City Administrator Tony Cox said. “We’re in a race with the construction of the school. What’s the best case scenario for adopting the plan and getting a project in place and moving dirt? How long would that take?”

Butler responded by recommending additional analysis of the situation.

“For this (study), we’re only looking at five-year, 25-year (options) and you haven’t seen the volumes quite yet with the school open, so to jump forward and say, ‘We’re going to build exactly this $45 million interchange,’ may be a little quick. But if you want to work out those short-terms, I would say you could probably build those – get designs and break ground,” Butler said. “But if you were to go ahead and choose one of the mid-terms or the interchange, I definitely think a full-blown study would be required, and that will also give you more leverage to go after grants and hopefully get the whole thing funded and get TDOT support.”

CDM has predicted in its analysis there will be a minimum of 847 left turns onto MLK during the peak morning hour by the year 2047.

“Just trying to model for that is extremely hard,” Butler added. “So, definitely by 2047 if you continue to see the growth that you’re currently seeing, grade separation (overpass) – even if it’s a just left turn flyover so they don’t have to stop – will be necessary because your volumes heading west on 160 are not leaving gaps for those left turns. So you’ve got so much volumes heading west that those left turns can’t find the gaps to safely make it across.

“When you start looking beyound 10, 15 years there is a lot to consider here, especially if all along that connector road, if you start seeing commercial development, you’re talking about even more volumes,” Butler said.

CDM Principal Chris Kirby advised the connector road would be the way to go, in light of the city’s race with the new school construction.

“You want to go ahead and start to get property, work with property owners to get that corridor in place. You could work off of that later – if you wanted to add a roundabout in the middle – you could work on that in phases. Certainly, the interchange is a great idea, but that’s going to be a while,” Kirby said.

Hamblen County Mayor Bill Brittain questioned the reasoning of the connector road.

“Is an objective of this alternative to reduce left turns off of 160?” he asked.

Butler said the connector road would separate the left turns out from conflicting with the left turns in by having the option to utilize the road to travel to Sulphur Springs and then access 160 (and use a J turn).

The study will be presented to the LAMTPO Executive Board at its October meeting, according to Rich DesGroseilliers, the Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization Coordinator for the city of Morristown.

“This is funded with CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) funds,” DesGroseilliers said. “So, acting with LAMTPO to go through this process, the next steps would be after the plan is actually finalized and adopted by LAMTPO, it would be prioritized and put into the next long-range transportation plan, which we are going to start working on very shortly.

“From that, then it’s up to local agencies to find out which ones have top priority, figure out which ones would want to move towards a TIF (tax increment financing), or if they want to pay for it themselves,” he said.

In addition to the MLK/Sulphur Springs scenarios, the many options developed by CDM for the LAMTPO board to review run the gamut from allowing (or not allowing) direct left turns onto 160 from Alpha Valley, Sugar Hollow and Mayes roads to adding a right hand turn lane from 160 onto Fish Hatchery and adding free-flow grade-separated ramps as access to 25E ($15 million), or as a less costly option, to install a traffic light. Options included a formal J turn installed at Springvale Road and more lighting at Commerce Boulevard and Dearing Road.

LAMTPO executive board members include the mayors of Morristown/Hamblen County, White Pine and Jefferson City/County, along with representatives from the East Tennessee Human Resource Agency, TDOT, Norfolk Southern Railway and the Federal Highway Administration.

The Lake way Area Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization operates as the regional transportation planning and coordinating agency for portions of the urbanized areas in Morristown, Jefferson City, White Pine, and Hamblen and Jefferson Counties. The United States Census Bureau designated these areas as urbanized in May 2002.