CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Montgomery County Chief Engineer Nick Powell recently gave the County Commission a construction update on capital projects. This included the extension of Highway 374, the Rossview Road widening, as well as the Greenway expansion.
Highway 374 extension
The project will create a loop around Clarksville, extending 374 south from Dover Road, over the Cumberland River, then connecting to state Highway 149 at River Road, according to previous reports.
In January, during the Mayor’s Power Breakfast, Mayor Wes Golden spoke on the county making a formal request to the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) that county government be allowed to take on the right-of-way acquisition process, in order to speed up the project.
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Powell confirmed that Montgomery County will be taking over the right-of-way acquisition. With it being a state route, there are federal funds available to immediately start on this phase. MCG Engineering is working with a design consultant to provide a fee to move forward from where they left off with TDOT.
Rossview Road widening
Similar to the update from the Rossview Road widening project from August, Montgomery County is still in the right-of-way acquisition phase, while utility relocation design is also taking place.
The plan is to widen 3.12 miles along Rossview Road from east of International Boulevard to east of Kirkwood Road, just past the entrance to the Kirkwood school’s campus, according to previous reports. The road will be widened to mostly a five-lane curb-and-gutter section with 12-foot lanes, a 10-foot multi-use path on the south side, and a 5-foot sidewalk on the north side.
Three right-of-way tracts remain to be negotiated, and one tract is currently in condemnation proceedings. Meanwhile, four additional condemnation packets have been sent to the State Attorney General’s Office. The project report says these are all due to mortgage companies that are non-responsive to requests for lien releases.
Currently, 86% of right-of-way has been acquired, 96% of right-of-way has been negotiated and 30% of the utility phase has been completed. For right-of-way acquisition, closings and condemnations will extend through early 2026. As for the utility easements for relocations, they will extend throughout 2026.
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Construction is scheduled for funding by TDOT in fiscal year 2028. The budget for the widening project comes out to $3 million going toward environment and design, while $12 million goes toward right-of-way. The documents said $5.8 million will also be needed to go toward utility.
HDR Engineering is serving as the architect / designer on the project, while the general contractor is to be determined.
Greenway expansion
At the Mayor’s Power Breakfast in January, Golden also talked about how one mile of greenway has been completed on the southeast side of the county, with the goal of having a greenway that connects Clarksville to Ashland City. “They’re working towards us and we’re going to work towards them,” Golden previously said.
Project progress is now being made on land acquisitions, and safety rail installations will begin soon along the Jarrell Ridge trail segment. The Highway Department will be stabilizing a section of the old rail bed in the area that has slid into the river as the next step of progressing north, said the report.
Additional grant dollars will be needed to construct the first bridge that will be required; progress is being made and it appears there is a good funding source through the Community Health Foundation for additional phases, said the report.
EMS 28 Station
The demolition of the old county animal shelter downtown made room for the newly designed EMS 28 Station, which has since moved into the construction phase.
$280,000 was budgeted for the design of the new EMS station on Spring Street, while $3.4 million was budgeted for construction. Montgomery County Engineering with TTL for Civil is the listed architect / designer for the project, while C&C Construction is the general contractor. 5% of the project has been completed.
Under project comments, it was said that immediately upon starting the project, ice and snow created a delay with the grading phase, but the contractor was to begin grading as the site dried up, said the report.
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