To people who use Elk Avenue daily for commuting to and from
work, it comes as no surprise that this, the busiest road in Carter County, is
quickly reaching its capacity. Additionally, to some of the residents along
West and East G Street, it comes as no surprise that this little three lane
road is also quickly reaching capacity – especially from Kiwanis Park to the
Health Department.
The need for another east/west route in the city is growing.
While we are not anticipating G Street to reach its maximum capacity in the
next 10 years, there are portions of West Elk Avenue that are projected to get
worse – especially from Milligan Highway to Mary Patton Highway.
The obvious answer is to add more lanes to West Elk Avenue/Broad
Street and maybe another lane to West G Street, but the reality is this is not
going to happen. Adding another lane to the south side of the road is
impossible because of the banked railroad (what is now the Tweetsie Trail) and
adding another lane to the north side of the road is extremely cost prohibitive
because it would require purchasing commercial land and likely demolishing many
buildings all along that side of the road like Zaxby’s, Chick-fil-a, Applebee’s,
Taco Bell, Sonic, etc. West G Street, of course, has a high density of
single-family and multi-family development already close to the road and, much
like Elk Avenue, would be extremely cost prohibitive to add an additional lane.
The Planning Commission is currently drafting the city’s
Major Thoroughfare Plan which analyzes traffic flow and patterns in the city
and proposes making improvements or even creating new roads through the city. The
reality of limited improvements along West Elk Avenue/Broad Street and G Street
has been realized by this body and they have come up with another solution to
improve traffic in Elizabethton in the future – Southside Road.
They have proposed creating a new, east/west minor arterial
route along the existing Southside Road right-of-way which would connect Mary
Patton Highway and US 19E. Their proposal limits the size of the road to a G
Street-type road – two travel lanes, one center turn lane, and sidewalks. This
would allow the city to make improvements to an existing right-of-way (which is
a lot cheaper than completely building a new road), make Southside Road safer,
and create another thoroughfare which would alleviate up to 14,000 cars per day
(about half of what currently is on West Elk Avenue) from West Elk Avenue/Broad
Street and West G Street. This proposal would also provide easier commuting for
residence who live near the Douglas neighborhood or Whitney Estates neighborhood.
Now, don’t get too excited because this project will likely
take 10 or more years before you would even be able to drive on it and assuming
the plan is approved. We estimate the cost of this improvement at just over $40
million which will be even harder to find in the city budget and grant funds. But,
none-the-less, we are thinking ahead and trying to anticipate and solve
problems for the future. What are your thoughts on this proposal? Good idea,
bad idea? Let’s talk about it!
