RUTHERFORD COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Officials with the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) have shared updates regarding two major road projects in Murfreesboro.
TDOT is making progress in its project to widen New Salem Highway (State Route 99) from Veterans Parkway to Old Fort Parkway (State Route 96).
According to TDOT’s project plans, the two-lane roadway will be expanded to five lanes with two 12-foot travel lanes in each direction, a 12-foot center turn lane and 12-foot shoulders with curbs and sidewalks. This will allow more room for vehicles trying to turn on the roadway and improve access for pedestrians and bicyclists, officials said.
News 2 spoke with Hunter Dykes, district 39 manager for TDOT, for the latest update on the project.
Dykes said work should begin on the third and final phase in mid-February. A $52 million dollar contract has been awarded for two and a half miles of New Salem Highway for Phase 3, from Veterans Parkway to Cason Lane, he said. The project is expected to be completed in December 2027.
In the coming weeks, drivers will see construction signs be put up, then crews will remove vegetation, build the road out and relocate utilities, he said.
“It’s a three-year project. A lot of that is utility work,” Dykes said. “We might be out there working for a year, and when you drive through you’re like ‘where have they even been working for the last year?’ But we’ve put a lot of stuff underground that you can’t see.”
Most of the major work on Phase 2 of the project, between I-24 and State Route 96, is completed, Dykes said. However, a final layer of asphalt will be put down once the weather warms up around April.
Phase 1 of the New Salem Highway project, from Cason Lane to I-24, was completed in 2021, according to TDOT.
News 2 also asked TDOT about any plans in motion for Old Fort Parkway after Murfreesboro city leaders submitted a proposal to have the road widened. TDOT officials said the proposal has still not been reviewed because of delays from Hurricane Helene.
“Projects submitted to TDOT through the Statewide Partnership Program are pending review. We will release the updated 10-Year Plan this Spring. This longer-term plan will be presented to the General Assembly in support of TDOT’s budget during the annual legislative session,” said Erin Zeigler, regional communications officer for TDOT.
Ziegler expects an update on the potential widening of Old Fort Parkway to be included in that plan in April.
TDOT officials remind drivers to be cautious in work zones, slow down and put down their cell phones. Flaggers will be out to direct traffic on State Route 99 between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., Dykes said.
