Cookeville conducted a geotechnical subsurface investigation on Interstate Drive Monday between Starbucks and Smart Bank.
The investigation is a study of the soil and rock beneath a road or construction site to understand its composition. Cookeville City Manager James Mills said the city wanted to figure out out what has caused the dip in the roadway. Mills said the preliminary results from the investigation have determined that bad soil has caused the road to subside.
“We need to figure out how deep that goes to figure out how we can repair it,” Mills said. “We hope it’s something we can bridge, bridge with stone and go back in and fix the situation.”
Mills said fixing the soils can lead to several days of disruptive traffic, depending on how far and how bad the soils are. Mills said addressing the dip on Interstate Drive is something the city needs to do as soon as possible.
“Interstate Drive is one of the major thoroughfares in the city that carries thousands of cars a day, and you know the problems continue to get worse, though we’ve got to get it repaired,” Mills said. “It’s like many different issues we’ve got across the city. We get to them when we can, but this one is reaching the point where it is critical.”
Mills said the long-term plan is to eventually repave Interstate Drive. However, Mills said repaving will not begin until the waterline and sidewalk project along Interstate Drive are completed.
“We will repave Interstate Drive for its entire length between Jefferson and Willow, but it’s gonna be a while. And I know there is a lot of concerns out there in the public about that, but we have got to get a lot of these things taken care of before we resurface,” Mills said.
Mills said the firm will continue to look at the data to figure out the best course of action.
