TDOT public hearing
Submitted by R. Neal on Tue, 11/09/2010 - 20:41

Here's a summary, we'll have a more detailed report in the next day or so.

Turnout was good. We estimate 60-75 citizens, plus several TDOT and local government officials.

The purpose of the meeting was an overview presentation of the project, the benefits, the current status, and discussion of the draft Environmental Assessment report. Copies were available for review (it is 150-200 pages). There were also maps of the preferred route.

According to TDOT officials, the EA is the same one presented in 2004 with no substantive changes. The project is still in the environmental phase. Read more about that process here.

TDOT wanted public comments restricted to a mail-in form or verbally to the court reporter on hand. There was a Q&A session following the presentation that lasted a little over an hour. Several people commented anyway, or made their opinion known in the form of questions.

The public participants appeared overwhelmingly opposed to the project.

One businessman spoke in support of the bypass and complained about all the negative comments and questions. He put out an altar call for local officials to come up and talk about the positive aspects of the proposal. Alcoa Mayor Don Mull spoke in favor of the project, along with a chamber of commerce representative and a Knoxville Regional TPO official.

TDOT officials were shockingly unprepared with details and answers. Several people commented on this after the meeting. One person said they felt they were being left in the dark on decisions that have already been made without any public participation.

We talked to a couple of Alcoa officials afterward who were much more forthcoming with facts and figures about why the city believes this is the best solution. TDOT should have let them run the meeting. It would have been far more informative and productive.

Anyway, the public came out and they were heard loud and clear. Local media came out to cover it, too. A Maryville Daily Times reporter was there, along with WATE and WVLT. There may have been other reporters.

We'll have more in a day or so, so check back.

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The citizens input was

Submitted by M. Neal on Tue, 11/09/2010 - 20:52.

The citizens input was fantastic. Great input and questions. People who care.

Public Meeting

Submitted by Jason Brooks (not verified) on Wed, 11/10/2010 - 09:52.

I attended the meeting as well and the attendance was good. However, I strongly disagree that attendees were overwhelming opposed to the project. While many spoke with some opposition, several asked questions with regard to specific concerns about the project (e.g. noise, property)while not completely opposed. And, there were certainly some who spoke favorable of the project. There were several supporters of the project who did not chose to speak openly at all.

As a resident of Blount County and the City of Alcoa, I am a strong supporter of the proposed Build Alternative. We regularly use the current Alcoa Highway for commuting to our work in Knoxville as well as for other trips to destinations such as UTK, Downtown Knoxville, Turkey Creek, I40/75. Blount County and the City of Alcoa are clearly a part of the Greater Knoxville regional economy and the vitality of our region greatly depends on the mobility of people to move in and out of Blount County on a frequent basis.

The mixed use of the current Alcoa Highway with numerous access points and destinations along a stretch that carries a large volume of through traffic is simply an unsafe and undesirable situation. The number of crashes and fatalities are well documented. It is the responsibility of our community to embrace and support what has become necessary to accommodate the demand on this stretch of road. Red lights and speed enforcement alone are not sufficient to address what is clearly a case of too many vehicles in too little space. The change in speeds and maneuvers on and off the highway only exacerbate the capacity problem. There is simply to no other alternative given the current and projected through traffic for the Alcoa Highway.

Jason, thanks for your

Submitted by R. Neal on Wed, 11/10/2010 - 11:01.

Jason, thanks for your comments.

To clarify, I said "public participants" (i.e. people who spoke or had questions) appeared overwhelmingly opposed, not "attendees." I realize there were likely many supporters in attendance who chose not to speak. You are correct that some of the questions were more about how the questioner would be affected personally. And there were a few citizens (and a few business people and government officials) who spoke in support, as I mentioned.

(We've got a recording, so we'll try to tally up an accurate score.)

I also agree that it's the responsibility of the community to embrace and support solutions to the safety problems. Our concerns are twofold. One, have all the possible alternatives, including those with less impact on the community and the environment, been fully conceived and considered? Second, is a solution proposed by businesses, the chamber of commerce, and city officials truly a community based solution that considers the views of all citizens?

Another concern is that safety issues are apparently being used as a "fear tactic" to promote and justify a proposal that possibly hasn't been adequately studied or that may have better alternatives.

Again, I am not saying there are no safety issues. Clearly there are. But the question is, what has TDOT and Alcoa done about safety issues since 1998 when this project was first conceived? The answer appears to be not much, and in fact several developments have made it worse. New businesses with only direct access from Alcoa Hwy and new crossovers to accommodate them, etc.

The city says they don't have money for any other improvements. I'm not clear on why they can't ask TDOT to do some interim improvements as we await a decision on the Parkway. I believe there has been some work on improving some of the turn lanes and intersections.

Again, thanks for your comments.

UPDATE: Based on our review

Submitted by R. Neal on Thu, 11/11/2010 - 16:46.

UPDATE: Based on our review and interpretation of the comments by public participants at the meeting, the score is:

Opposed: 6
Concerned: 7
For: 3
Unknown: 3

Geometry

Submitted by David.Ballard on Fri, 11/12/2010 - 22:30.

What is the shortest distance between to points?

Why are we bypassing this with thru traffic?

Thanks, David.

Submitted by M. Neal on Sat, 11/13/2010 - 09:14.

Thanks, David.

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About this site

The purpose of this site is to provide an online clearinghouse for information about the proposed Alcoa Parkway bypass and to promote public awareness and public participation in the process. We believe that the original proposal to improve the existing Alcoa Highway corridor needs a second look as a viable alternative for correcting safety and capacity problems, and that the public should have more input in selecting the preferred build alternative.

Contact us

Send your comments and suggestions to M. Neal, mneal@rviews.com or R. Neal, rneal@rviews.com. You can also mail your comments to Stop Alcoa Parkway, P.O. Box 490, Alcoa TN 37701. To join our mailing list for updates and new developments, please email mneal@rviews.com.