Update at 6:20 AM on July 17th: Load is ahead of schedule and is arriving in Washington County.
Motorists in Greene County will experience delays again this week as another oversized load makes its way from the Knoxville area toward the Tri-Cities.
The load will come through Wednesday morning and is expected to follow the same route and approximate same times as the wide load that came through last Wednesday. Last week’s convoy was at Exit 23 at 6 AM and reached the Greene/Washington County line just before 8 AM.
The load will be accompanied by rolling roadblocks from the Tennessee Highway Patrol and local authorities. Access streets and roads to 11-E will also be closed at times while the load is approaching and passing. There will be limited opportunities for traffic to pass the load, which will move at slow speeds.
Like the oversized load last week, it cannot pass under the bridge at Interstate 81 and will be rerouted off the off-ramp and back onto 11-E on the other side. This maneuver will cause traffic delays on both sides of Interstate 81, as the load will use a median crossover and descend the ramp on the opposite side of the bridge. Both lanes of interstate traffic will be closed at one point during that procedure.
In Greeneville, the load is too large to cross the bridge over Summer Street. It will exit onto Summer Street, cross the median, and then re-enter 11-E on the other side of the bridge. This will cause closures and delays on Summer Street. During this time, some traffic behind the convoy may be allowed to cross the bridge. Last week’s convoy reached the Summer Street exit just before 7:00 AM and took about fifteen minutes.
Once back on 11-E, it took about an hour for the load to reach the Greene/Washington County line. It will travel into Jonesborough before turning onto Boones Creek Road to continue on to Kingsport
The convoy is expected to arrive at Eastman by 2:00 PM on Wednesday.
