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TDOT Months Away From Franklin Rd. Widening Project

Posted at 3:36 PM, Apr 19, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-19 20:47:45-04

On Franklin Road everyone's in a hurry to get somewhere. The problem is, they're not moving very quickly.

"Very congested, heavy traffic pretty much all the time," said driver Ken Criblez. He said he's heard about plans to widen the road, but so far it's all been spinning wheels.

"For the past 20 years yes!" he laughed.

Brentwood City Spokesperson Deanna Lambert said it's finally time to hit the gas.

"What this is going to mean for Brentwood is a way to increase travel and decrease congestion," she said.

The city spent $3 million buying the land needed between Concord Road and Moores Lane. Plans include four lanes plus a turn lane covering the 2.3-mile stretch. Along with a 10-foot multi-purpose path.

"That means people who want to bike or walk, possibly if you live within a distance where you could walk to your work place, this is going to open up some opportunities," Lambert said.

It's a project that will impact 17,000 drivers a day and more as the area continues to grow. Many use Franklin Road as an alternative to I-65.

"This is a major corridor that people travel from Franklin to get to Brentwood, Nashville," Lambert said.

And while drivers are ready for the next step, Criblez knows there's still one more roadblock for drivers:
the three to four year construction.

"It'll be good news when it's done, it's not going to be fun in the interim," he said.

As TDOT waits for environmental permits, everything from cost to timeline is up in the air for the project. The earliest that construction could start is late summer or fall.