How much would it cost to relocate every business along that stretch of Alcoa Highway? Like to the new Downtown Alcoa development, plus maybe a much smaller piece of land for the car dealers that would otherwise be used for a bypass? Then you could build concrete barriers on both sides and in the median and raise the speed limit to 70 and people could get to the airport and points south/east a lot faster. And I bet it would be less than $64 million.

One problem is that Downtown Alcoa hasn't broken ground, and I believe there are some environmental issues that have to be cleaned up first. Not to mention problems with the current economic environment and real estate markets. But maybe $64 million could overcome that.

With apologies for the repeated and mispelled material in my previous post...

The most dangerous part of traveling on Alcoa Highway are the vehicles making left turns. I would like to suggest placing just two traffic lights between Pellissippi Parkway and the airport that would greatly ease this problem.

On the northbound side, I would put a traffic light at Cusick Road. This light would only be for the northbound traffic, allowing left turns onto and off of Cusick. Traffic entering Alcoa Highway to the south would enter a continuous lane and make a high-speed left hand merge into traffic in the same manner as the existing southbound entrance at Governor John Sevier Highway. Southbound traffic would not stop. This would also create gaps in the northbound traffic, making it safer for traffic to enter the highway from Starbucks all the way up to Wright Road.

On the southbound side, I would put a traffic light at Airbase Road. Again, this light would only be for southbound traffic, allowing left turns onto and off of Airbase. Traffic entering Alcoa Highway to the north would enter a continuous lane (extending the existing merge lane) and make a high-speed left hand merge into traffic. This light would create safety gaps in the southbound traffic helping crossing traffic for all the businesses on that side all the way down to Wrights Ferry Road.

The southbound light would also reduce truck traffic on this most dangerous stretch of road, as northbound FedEx (and some UPS) trucks entering from Airbase Road currently travel southbound all the way down to Hunt Road, then cross over the bridge and travel this stretch a second time to proceed northbound.

These two lights would only create one potential stop for each direction of travel, and most drivers would catch a green light. For those vehicles that did have to stop, the areas immediately behind each signal have minimal driveways and side streets to be affected by waiting traffic.

The recent sad demise of several of the major car dealerships has decreased some of the crossing traffic, and the airport has made efforts to acquire some of those properties, and they are unlikely to return to their former high-traffic uses. I think my idea, plus these closings, will achieve most of the same goals as the Alcoa Parkway, at a tiny fraction of the cost.

That's a great idea for using traffic signals with a minimum of disruption. Not sure local official are even willing to discuss traffic signals, but if they were this would seem like a good approach. They could be "smart" signals that keep traffic flowing except as needed.

I talked with someone familiar with the parameters of this problem, and supposedly models show that even a single traffic light could cause miles of congestion during peak hours. So alternatives involving red lights are not likely to get much interest.

I drove the "motor mile" stretch today trying to assess alternatives, and it seems quite obvious that between the access roads, wide median and existing setbacks that there is enough room to reconfigure the highway so there are lanes for through traffic and lanes for local traffic.

It seems like the businesses along the highway threw their weight around in 2004 and bumped those types of solutions down the list, but I think their worries are exaggerated. They might lose some impulse visits, but it seems at least as likely that potential customers drive by simply because they are scared to attempt any sort of entrance/exit. It's quite possible that a road that allows safe access will be better for business than being along a road everyone knows can be lethal.

I didn't completely read your website but have a couple of comments and questions. I was born and raised in Springbrook and have lived here most of my adult life as well. I have driven Alcoa Hwy daily for most of my working years since about 1993. It seems to me that most accidents occur at Green Acres and Topside Road. Shouldn't the traffic snarls be addressed there first? The only time the Motor Mile gets backed up is between 8:20am - 9:15am and again from 5pm -5:45. That's what happens everywhere at rush hour. Also, why did they do away with the on ramp to Pellissippi Parkway from Cusick Rd? Open that back up and I believe a whole lot of trucks and such that have to pull into traffic from the warehouses off Cusick would be redirected. Lastly, whatever happened to the completion of Pellissippi Parkway? Why don't we complete that first and THEN see how traffic on the almost defunct Motor Mile is affected?

My time frame was a bit off. I meant to say it's busiest from 7:20am to 8:15am.

How about an Environmental Assessment that presents all the options rather than railroading through one approach?

First of all why has not one addressed/questioned the logic is creating this parkway for 5 miles and then having it rejoin the existing highway for about 1 mile only to split again? That just sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. If they have to build this thing (and they seem hell bound and determined to do so) then it should amount to creating the bypass six miles further north than it's current location. Sounds to me like they really will just create a new issue by rejoining the roads 1 mile short of the Hall Road/129 split.
Secondly, has there been any studies to show how improving widenting the Old Knoxville highway might possibly alleviate some the existing load on Alcoa Highway? Not the meantion the idea of completing the Pellissippi to see what effect that has and or builing overpasses at Cusick, Wrights Road, Singleton Station and Topside?
The Parkway just seems like a rediculous idea to me!