The City of Murfreesboro has announced plans to conduct a comprehensive study on downtown intersections to determine if traffic requires additional signage.
Overall the study will determine what, if any, adjustments will be made.
"After the opening of the Broad and Memorial Bridge and the re-aligned Lytle Street, the
Transportation Department will initiate a comprehensive traffic study to determine whether
increased traffic warrants more than the standard stop sign at intersections in the downtown
areas,” said City Manager Rob Lyons. “While a thorough study of downtown traffic conditions
will take time, other safety enhancements will be implemented.”
The bridge project, which began earlier this year, has caused a noticeable increase in traffic in downtown. Business owners said there has been additional congestion due to road closures and drivers avoiding the construction.
"The bridge construction has definitely had an impact as far as congestion in downtown. Drivers are trying to avoid the traffic so they head into downtown so they bypass the intersection and head into another direction," said Simply Pure Sweets Owner Chantell Kennedy-Shehan.
Her business has also benefited from the bridge construction.
"There is also a lot of people in avoiding the construction coming through here and kind of found us," she added.
She and several other business owners in downtown are looking forward to the study and would love to see additional signage.
More than a dozen intersections will be a part of the study.
"Some of the more congested intersections, lighting systems might be better to help control the flow," said Kennedy-Shehan.
A city spokesperson said the Lytle Street project should be finished by June 2018.
TDOT anticipates the project will be substantially completed by the end of the year. A spokesperson said a contractor will probably have to come back in the Spring to take care of the landscaping and other final touches.
