Safety
Submitted by M. Neal on Fri, 11/05/2010 - 06:42

I believe we all agree that Alcoa Highway is unsafe. One traffic fatality is one too many.

In the Nov. 5, 2010 Maryville Daily Times article, Alcoa Assistant City Manager Bill Hammon said, "There have been nine traffic fatalities on Alcoa Highway since January."

I'm only able to find articles referencing six fatalities. Of these six, four did not occur within this 3.1 mile section of Alcoa Highway. One accident occurred as a drunk driver was speeding on Hall Road to the Alcoa Highway entrance ramp. The other occurred at Topside Road, a mile or two north of the proposed Alcoa Parkway bypass.

In one of the remaining two accidents, someone pulled out in front of another driver. In the other accident, the driver hit another car while trying to change lanes. Both of these accidents could possibly have been prevented by corrections to the existing road.

A 3-5 mile high speed road that will flow into high density areas at both ends is a problem waiting to happen. Speed is a huge issue on all sections of Alcoa Highway. The Alcoa Police Department works hard to catch drivers exceeding the speed limit on Alcoa Highway. Drivers seem to ignore the warnings unless it directly affects them.

Slowing down the drivers and providing better controlled access to get off/on the existing road might better control the problem. Maybe a big flashing sign warning drivers to slow down would be helpful, or rumble strips on each side of the road and between lanes. I do believe that bridges over Alcoa Highway at Singleton Station Road, Airport Road, and Wright Road along with better frontage roads, and less median crossovers will make Alcoa Highway a lot safer, eliminating any need for a new 6 lane bypass.

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Idea's

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 11/05/2010 - 07:39.

I plan on attending the meeting Tuesday.
Here are a few of my idea's

Why not install a cable barrier along the median of Alcoa Highway for added safety? Like was done along Pellissippi Parkway.

Create an access road on both sides of the highway that runs the entire length of the motor mile. (This could be done very easily)

Create two on/off Alcoa hwy and onto the access road locations, one at each end of the access road on north and south bound side. This would eliminate any mid motor mile hwy crossing or pulling out onto the highly traffic area of the motor mile. (those along the motor mile who threatens to leave the motor mile if this is done, leave if safety isn’t your businesses first priority.) You may get more business if it were safer to enter and exit the Hwy.

Place ONE traffic light at North Wright Road intersection (by Shoneys). OR any intersection that causing the most problems. OR close down that intersection. OR allow that intersection to feed onto the access road and not Alcoa Hwy.

Thank you M & R Neal for preserving our heritage and our home town, if only the others would stand...

Thanks. I'm glad you'll be at

Submitted by M. Neal on Fri, 11/05/2010 - 08:36.

Thanks. I'm glad you'll be at the meeting. Alternatives are what we need and you have some.

Need speed limit enforcement

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 11/05/2010 - 19:32.

We, the drivers, make Alcoa Highway dangerous!The speed limit of only 50 mph needs to be enforced. It's no problem at all to make a left turn across traffic when everyone is going 50! Where else to we allow people to go 10 miles or more over the speed limit?! There is no way to shorten the distance between Knoxville and Blount County. People need to be more patient and just deal with it.

You area correct. If everyone

Submitted by M. Neal on Sat, 11/06/2010 - 04:04.

You area correct. If everyone went 50 mph, then it probably wouldn't be such an unsafe highway. Besides having a police officer watching that stretch of highway 24 hrs a day, how do we get drivers to respect the law, speed limit, safety of others?

Traffic Cameras

Submitted by Alcoa (not verified) on Sat, 11/06/2010 - 09:26.

How about asking the City to put up traffic cameras all over that stretch of Alcoa Hwy? I'm sure it's very hard to "man" Alcoa Hwy 24/7, I'm guilty of going over 50mph. I think the city should close all cross over median accesses along Alcoa Hwy between Pellissippi Parkway and Hunt Road. Use those two roads to change sides if need be. That means to close wright road, airbase road, and that street near starbucks. Or how about on on/off ramp (lane) like that in from of the Ford dealership that strech is great for exiting the hwy or entering the hwy. just a thought....

Those aren't bad ideas. Not

Submitted by R. Neal on Sat, 11/06/2010 - 10:01.

Those aren't bad ideas. Not sure you could close Airbase Rd., though. I seem to recall it being pretty complicated to get out of that area via Topside and/or Louisville Rd. and I'm not sure they could handle the increased commercial traffic plus it would impact a lot of residential communities. There probably needs to be a flyover there. And there's still the problem with Singleton Station.

I'm a frequent user of

Submitted by rikki on Sat, 11/06/2010 - 22:37.

I'm a frequent user of Singleton Station, and if it were disconnected from Alcoa Hwy entirely, it wouldn't be that big of a problem, especially if access from Cusick Rd onto Pelli Pkwy were restored.

I wonder if there is place on the Little River where a bridge could be built to divert eastern Blount Co traffic onto Rt. 33. Perhaps near the Co-op feed plant you could get people across the river without disturbing residential areas.

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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.