CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – While the City of Clarksville looks to widen Memorial Drive Extension, residents who live in the area are pushing for an alternative that they say would save the city over $20 million.

The city plans to widen Memorial Extension between Richview Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway, at a cost of over $26.5 million.

But Rudy Johnson is proposing a plan that would create a new road on land that he owns behind Clarksville High School. It would connect Memorial Drive Extension to MLK Parkway at a point farther west on both roads.

An alternative project has been proposed to the City of Clarksville that would save the city over $20 million on the Memorial Drive extension project. (Contributed)

According to documents shared with Clarksville Now, this plan accomplishes the following:

  • Reduce traffic along the Memorial Drive Extension corridor, maintaining a more neighborhood feel.
  • Include a new traffic signal at the intersection connecting Walmart, City Forum and MLK Parkway.
  • Provide a more efficient route to MLK Parkway from Warfield Boulevard and Memorial Drive.

This proposal would cost the city around $4.5 million, with the right-of-way for the road donated by Johnson, and it could be accomplished in only two months.

Memorial Drive Extension widening

The widening of Memorial Drive Extension is a component of Mayor Joe Pitts’ 2020+ Transportation Plan. The proposed improvements include widening Memorial Extension from Richview to MLK Parkway from a two-lane road to a three-lane road with bike lanes and sidewalks along each side.

Additional improvements to MLK Parkway will include traffic signals at both Old Farmers Road and Memorial Drive Extension. Turn lanes are also expected to improve, providing more traffic capacity.

Councilperson Stacey Streetman, whose Ward 10 includes the properties, said that regardless of whether the Johnson road is built, there is still a need for the Memorial Drive Extension widening.

Streetman said there are two large housing projects being built off of Memorial, which will add even more traffic to the area. There are also other large pieces of land that will more than likely be developed in the future, and the widening is needed to handle that capacity long term.

Support for alternative plan

Proponents of the alternative plan say the Memorial Drive Extension widening will fail to address traffic congestion at the intersection connecting Walmart, City Forum and MLK Parkway.

Jim Hancock, a former member of the Clarksville-Montgomery County Regional Planning Commission, said he’s struck by the expense of the widening, as wall as how narrow the road will still be.

“The Memorial Drive Extension is probably already in the city budget; however, I went to the public information meeting and it’s a very expensive project, which is two or three years down the road,” Hancock said.

The Johnson road could be built in two months, proponents say.

“Also, I think the lanes they designed for the project are too narrow. They’re 11 feet wide instead of the standard 12 feet lanes,” Hancock said.

“I expect a lot of truck traffic from MLK over to the Warfield Boulevard area. The road that’s planned to run through Rudy Johnson’s property certainly would be a less expensive road project, and it would handle truck traffic very well.”

What’s next

Here is the expected timeline for the Memorial Drive Extension widening project as it progresses into the summer:

  • Preliminary plans are expected to be provided in late June.
  • Final right-of-way plans are expected to be provided later this summer.
  • The city will then begin the right-of-way and easement acquisition process, which will take 12-18 months.

Correction: Rudy Johnson would donate the land to the city; the city wouldn’t have to buy the right-of-way. The article has been updated.