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Sullivan mayor says SR 357 road project still alive

BLOUNTVILLE - The Tennessee Department of Transportation will publicly clarify or correct its statement last week that "Airport Parkway South" won't move forward, Sullivan County Mayor Steve Godsey said Thursday.

A regional community relations officer for TDOT referred questions about Godsey's comments to a TDOT public information officer in Nashville, who did not immediately return a phone call from the Times-News.

Godsey, speaking to members of NETWORKS – Sullivan Partnership, said he met earlier this week in Nashville with an assistant commissioner at TDOT.

Based on that conversation, Godsey said, he predicts TDOT will release a clarification or correction concerning the state's position on "Airport Parkway South" - officially called the State Route 357 extension project.

"There was some misinformation given, and I hope TDOT is going to rectify that with the media. That project is not dead," Godsey said during the regular meeting of the NETWORKS – Sullivan Partnership board, which has voted to support the project.

After the meeting, he told reporters that TDOT had asked the Rural Planning Organization (RPO) overseen by the First Tennessee Development District to take 357 off a list of transportation projects seen as priorities for the region - since "Airport Parkway South" already was in the planning phase.

However, Godsey said TDOT recently used the absence of 357 from the RPO's list as reasoning to shelve the project.

"He (the assistant commissioner) explained that was stated in error," Godsey said. "This project is not gone. It was they (TDOT officials) having put out misinformation they are going to have to rectify."

Matt Garland is transportation coordinator for the First Tennessee Rural Planning Organization.

Garland said the RPO is a "consulting body to TDOT to let them know what the transportation needs are for the region."

The RPO first formally met in January 2006 - and at that time placed the State Route 357 extension project on one of four priorities lists, Garland said.

Those were divided into different categories - including "new proposals" and projects already "under study or development."

"Airport Parkway South," on the drawing board for years, was placed in the latter category.

"We submitted around 30 projects in this region, including air, rail and highway projects," Garland said. "TDOT took that list and whittled it down to 15 projects. Those 15 projects came straight out of the new proposals. None of the other stuff was used to compile that list. So 357 was automatically taken out of that list. At that time they did not choose to look at that, for whatever reason that they had. So what the priority list was - 357 was not on it, but it's still a priority for the RPO."

The nine-mile project would extend State Route 357 from Tri-Cities Regional Airport to Highway 11-E at or near the latter road's intersection with Highway 19-E.

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