CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – The Tennessee Department of Transportation has banned tractor-trailer truck drivers from turning right onto College Street from northbound Riverside Drive, after a request from Clarksville’s City Council.
The resolution was approved by the City Council in August, and according to a news release from the city, the intersection of Riverside Drive and College Street was host to 207 crashes over the last two years.
Two pedestrians were killed over the last two years. In September of 2019, a city employee was hit and killed by a tractor-trailer. Many of the crashes actually involved commercial, tractor-trailer type vehicles.
Official signage was installed recently by the Clarksville Street Department, and it directs trucks to instead use Kraft Street as an alternate route. The map of the new, commercial route can be found below.
TDOT had to approve the request because all the roads involved are state-controlled highways, according to the news release from the city. Riverside Drive is US Highway 41A; College Street is State Route 48; and Kraft Street is US Highway 79.
Truck drivers found making the turn could be ticketed and fined up to $50.
Trucks often have a hard time holding a stopped position at the traffic signal, and some roll backward upon takeoff due to the steep hill on College Street. This new ban should reduce the risk of damage to vehicles behind that truck, the news release said.
It also should reduce the number of heavy trucks traveling College Street in front of Austin Peay State University, which sees a surge of traffic during rush hours and a high number of pedestrians in the area.