McEwen/Cool Spring/Oxford Glen/Roundabout UPDATE I know most of you were probably uttering some “not so kind” words under your breath this morning about city government, our engineering department, the contractors and me in regards to the newly opened McEwen Connector at the roundabout. I get it. Fair enough. I made a point of being out at the intersection today from 7 am until 8:45 am with our team of engineers to observe the first day. I also drove McEwen several times in both directions to observe the long line of vehicles and track the time it took to travel from Wilson to Cool Springs/Oxford Glen. Here’s what is happening. First, all lanes are not yet fully open and functioning. In order to connect the newly built section of McEwen to old McEwen past Garden Club Estates, we had to shut off the old McEwen road. Now all traffic is travelling on the new connector road. Great! But hold the fort - why is traffic so bad and the back up so long? The reason - one lane must remain closed and only one lane on the roundabout is open. This is just a temporary situation. We do not have both lanes open because the contractor must be able to work on the roundabout, grade it out, and put a brick apron around it. (The brick apron gives trucks room to navigate the roundabout without damaging it). Finally, the roundabout needs to be restriped as well. In addition, the sidewalk connection needs to be put in. All of these things could not be accomplished until the contractor finished the road connection. They are feverishly working on the roundabout and the apron. This should take approximately 14 to 16 days to complete, depending on the weather. We all need to hang in there for another two weeks and then both lanes on McEwen Dr. and on the roundabout should be open and functional. We should see a huge improvement in about two weeks. To further improve the traffic flowing west on McEwen (which is a must), I have asked that we move ahead with the design and purchase of land on the NE corner of McEwen at the roundabout so we can construct a “dedicated right hand turn lane” off of McEwen onto Cool Springs Blvd. We did not move ahead with that “dedicated turn lane” at the time of the McEwen connector construction because of delay it would have caused in purchasing the land for the dedicated turn lane. If we had delayed construction of the connector road to accommodate the design of the turn lane as well as land acquisition for the lane, we would have held up the McEwen Connector project and I did not want to further delay that project. In a perfect world with money that grows on trees we would have had all parts of the project done at one time. But, I knew that option would only delay the connector project and as I indicated I was unwilling to delay construction project even further. I have asked our Director of Engineering, Paul Holzen, to move the design phase for the designated right turn lane forward and he believes he may have the funding to do so. That means we should be able to move forward with the design. However, the board will have to find funding for the right hand lane construction. As soon as I get a feel for how the Board of Mayor and Aldermen are leaning on funding the construction phase, I will let you all know. If I find I am not getting the support I need, I will contact your HOA’s and have them let you know that I need you all to show up at one of our meetings and make your voices heard. You may need to make your voices heard via emails, letters, or in person at one of our work sessions. I will keep you all posted. I suspect that after a day or two of moving through the new intersection, things will pick-up and traffic will move at a steadier pace. It should greatly improve in about two weeks when all lanes are open and functioning. The other obvious issue is the constant flow of traffic coming down Oxford Glen impedes McEwen traffic travelling west entry into the roundabout. I asked our engineer team this morning to look at ways to slow down the north bound Oxford Glen traffic so there are more opportunities for west bound McEwen traffic to enter the roundabout and turn right onto Cool Springs or to continue on around and go west on McEwen. We have a few possibilities and they are looking into them. They hope to communicate those ideas later this week. In the short term, I am going to ask about having a police officer stand up at the Oxford Glen and Old McEwen Dr. corner for the next two weeks to possibly intermittently stop traffic coming down the Oxford Glen hill and give those travelling west on McEwen more opportunities to enter the roundabout. The constant, steady stream of cars travelling North on Oxford Glen into the roundabout (between 7 am and 8:45 am) is preventing a consistent flow of McEwen traffic into the roundabout, thus creating an extreme back-up on McEwen Dr. way past Player’s Mill Road and almost down to the Meade of Avalon. After all lanes are open and we address slowing the Oxford Glen traffic down then we should see a more even take and give into the circle during morning rush time. The other area we all find ourselves maneuvering around is the Wilson Pike/ McEwen Intersection. I will continue to monitor the intersection as it moves forward. It should be completed by the beginning of fall 2014. Please let me hear from you with any concerns you have or problems you observe. Finally, it is also time to fund the design for the rest of Phase IV of McEwen from the connector to Wilson Pike. We MUST move forward on funding the full design and then move to purchase the right of way. Construction comes after these two phases are complete. I will keep you informed and call upon you should I need your help in getting the funds committed and the project moving forward in the next few months. These are tedious times for projects in Ward 1 and I need your patience, your input and your support. Thank you. Please check out the updates on my Blog at aldermanburger/blog/ and leave your comments. It is an honor to serve as your Alderman. Bev Alderman Beverly Burger Ward 1 Franklin, TN Bev@AldermanBurger AldermanBurger (615) 498-4794
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 21:28:19 +0000
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