Mt. Juliet opens new thoroughfare
Aug. 27—Mt. Juliet has opened an extension on Providence Parkway connecting South Mt. Juliet Road with Central Pike.
Officials are optimistic it will alleviate some traffic congestion that backs up in that part of town.
"It's very exciting," said Andy Barlow, the Mt. Juliet public works and engineering director. "This project has been going on for the better part of two decades."
Barlow indicated that Providence Parkway was always developed as an east-west connector.
"The first part was built with Providence Marketplace," Barlow said. "Shortly after, on the west side, we had Walgreens and Regions Bank come in."
As motorists have attempted to navigate from South Mt. Juliet Road, Barlow said that they have had to use Adams Lane, which he commented was not an optimum roadway for the purpose that Providence Parkway now serves.
"We have had a lot of maintenance problems out there," Barlow said. "We were talking with the street staff, and they said they were so happy they didn't have to apply salt on Adams Lane anymore. It's such a narrow road. This project is something needed for us to get a bad roadway out of the mix."
The sky's the limit for the space that is now accessible by the extension.
"You have a major commercial area," Barlow said. "It's going to draw some high-level commercial development. We're hearing a lot of stuff on potential office development. We have seen a lot in the Nashville area. There is an opportunity for campus relocation. It's things we have not seen yet but what we know will be a strong possibility."
Barlow mentioned that he sees promise for some gains in the near future too.
"There will be some short-term impacts as well," Barlow said. "I call it a domino effect. Adams Lane will be closed, and a portion of it will be relocated."
As the area has grown, so has the need for infrastructure improvements.
"Several years ago, Central Pike did not stop (at the Adams Lane intersection)," Barlow said. "The Tennessee Department of Transportation said it needed a four-way stop. That's an indicator that traffic volume is up. It's only increased since that time ... several thousand cars per day that cut through that stretch of road. It's a lot busier than you think."
Traffic congestion is nothing new in the area.
"Everyone knows we have traffic problems in the midstate," Barlow said. "Our growth is exploding."
Tackling that growth requires much planning.
"You talk about alleviating that (growth), we can plan public projects all day long, and we can get going on the engineering, but it takes us a long time to plan, design, and build these roadways," Barlow said. "As a city, we take a multi-tool approach, like we can't build this all, but we can build some, so we rely on development to make those roads for us. Our responsibility is making sure the vision is set and determining how wide the roads need to be."
The Providence Parkway extension was completed with zero expense to the city. It is entirely a developer-funded project.
"As a trade-off with the developers building on the land, we say if you are going to do this, we need a roadway connection," Barlow said.
The extension represents a continued focus on infrastructure development in the city between the lakes.
"We are very excited to see another important traffic infrastructure enhancement opening, one of many recently completed, under construction or under design and review," said Kenny Martin, the Mt. Juliet city manager. "We appreciate our elected body focusing so much of its attention on the infrastructure in our city."
