The Greeneville Municipal Planning Commission voted to approve a Traffic Impact Study for a section of the 11-E Bypass in their meeting Tuesday morning.
The study will be done from the intersection of the Erwin Highway to the intersection of Harlan Street, across from Walmart. The traffic study was recommended by the Town of Greeneville and the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) to potentially avoid a traffic nightmare.
According to Planning Director Randy Davenport, 5 developing sites will be affecting traffic in Greeneville, the Johnson Farms Development, the potential new school on Jeff Woods Memorial Drive, a hotel behind Walmart that was mentioned years ago but recently was discussed again, the site across from Walmart on the Andrew Johnson Highway that’s proposed for restaurants and a retail store, and the talked about apartment complex behind that same site.
We don’t know what restaurants are being planned for the town just yet, but the site will be known as ‘Shops at Greeneville’ with 4 restaurants proposed and a retail store. One of the restaurants will have seating available for 300 people and over 200 parking spots in the lot. This causes a concern for traffic, which is why this traffic study is so important. One could cost anywhere from $30,000 to $50,000 but exact numbers are not known at this time.
To maintain safety due to the traffic volume anticipated, the Town of Greeneville will pay for the study and will select Traffic Engineers in the next couple of weeks. A traffic signal could be requested at Serral Drive. The commission will require the signal to be installed and functional before any site plans are approved for the development.
