City of Franklin engineers have presented three options to overhaul Columbia Avenue, but some businesses owners are fighting for a fourth option; doing nothing.
"We like the road the way it operates today," said Paul Hoppe, who operates the Market Master along Columbia Avenue. "The traffic is sometimes backed up, but only for a few hours a day."
Hoppe said traffic is at it's worst during rush hour, but during off-peak hours, vehicles move through the mostly industrial area pretty quickly.
But city engineers have projected daily traffic to increase by about 7,000 vehicles by 2041, so they've come up with three options to widen Columbia from Mack Hatcher Parkway to Downs Blvd.
The first would widen the road from two lanes to four with a median in the center. The second would widen the street from two lanes to five, with the center lane acting as a turning lane. The final option would widen the road and add a roundabout at six intersections throughout the 1.1 mile stretch.
"Improving this road sounded like a great idea," said Jaime Crutcher who owns Cruther's Auto Repair. "But when you start weighing all the available options, there's no winner."
Crutcher argues the roundabout option, which engineers say is safest, would turn Columbia into a parking lot. The roundabouts would sit between two stop lights, which he argues would only slow traffic down all of the time instead of only during rush hour.
He also voiced concerns that some businesses would not survive the projected 24 month construction period.
"My customers are going to try to avoid this area when all of that is going on," Crutcher said. "How much of my property are you going to take, how is that going to cripple my business, can I survive the construction phase?"
City engineers said they've considered leaving the road as it is, but do not believe it's a viable solution. They will present the three options to the city's Board of Aldermen in coming months. A final design will then go to a vote.
