Cookeville Mayor Laurin Wheaton said the soon to be completed phase two of the 10th Street expansion will be a long term benefit to the community.
The project should wrap in the next few weeks. Wheaton said the third phase of the project from Fisk Road to North Washington will be the most difficult piece.
“We want to make sure traffic is flowing smoothly,” Wheaton said. “We know that 10th Street was an ‘F’ a long time ago, all the way down. So, seeing the growth in Tech, again, just the growth in Cookeville in general, it just makes sense to see if we can make it go all the way down.”
The city is currently in the engineering work for section three to determine the exact price.
In an April City Council Meeting, Cookeville City Manager James Mills said the engineering phase would take around 18 months. Wheaton said she does not expect the work to be completed during her term.
“We may get the preliminary plans and it may say, ‘You know what? It’s not going to work right now,'” Wheaton said. “But, that’s again where we do our homework and we study. And we have the engineers draw up things, and take a good look at the budget and what we can do to see if we can make it happen.”
Phase Two of the project expanded 10th Street from Old Kentucky Road to Fisk Avenue to five total lanes, with two driving lanes in each direction and a center turn lane. Crews also moved utilities and sewer lines underground during Phase Two. Wheaton said Phase Two is not only ahead of schedule, but under budget.
Phase Three will add another lane to the stretch of 10th Street between Fisk Avenue and Washington Street, matching the five lane layout of the first two phases.
“I hope everyone sees that it’s going to be a great, great avenue for our city,” Wheaton said. “One that we’ve needed for a very, very long time. And I can’t say enough about how proud I am of our crew for going out there and making this happen.”
Wheaton said she appreciates citizens’ patience with new traffic patterns and road blockages during the project.
