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TDOT to buy, raze eight condos along Highway 36 to make way for road widening

Published January 11th, 2008 | 0 Comments

The widening of Tenn. Highway 36/North Roan Street went off, for the most part, without a hitch. However, eight new condominiums are now being purchased by the state with plans to demolish them in the near future.

Just as state-contracted crews began work to widen the stretch in December 2004, they discovered there would likely be problems with the new condos, located along Carmol Drive and North Roan, blocking motorists� sight lines on a �vertical curve,� so Tennessee Department of Transportation officials began to for- mulate a course of action.

"The condos weren�t there when the plans were developed," TDOT spokesman Travis Brickey said.

Those efforts have led to the state acquiring most of the property from each of the individual condo owners and plans to remove the structures this spring.

"The development process for a road project is a lengthy one," Brickey said. "Acquiring right of way is also a lengthy process."

Therefore, the road project went on as scheduled while the condos also were being erected. Once road construction work was finished, one lane in the area of Carmol Drive/Indian Trail Middle School was left unopened, with traffic controls in place.

Brickey would not divulge how much the acquisition of the property will cost TDOT or even speak in ballpark figures because negotiations with some property owners are still ongoing.

"We�re very close to being finished with the right of way (acquisition)," Brickey said. "By spring, those will be torn down and the road will be improved.

"It�s a safety issue for us, and we just can�t have something out there that�s not safe."

Work to widen and improve the two-mile section of road � which now makes the entire stretch of North Roan from Science Hill High School to the intersection with Boones Creek Road and Pickens Bridge Road at Zak�s furniture a five-lane road � was finished several months ago.

An average of 18,280 vehicles per day traveled this stretch in 2003. The same stretch is projected to service 31,400 vehicles per day in 2023, leading TDOT to fund the $14 million construction contract.

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