Bedford-Moore-Coffee Counties From State Route 64 to North Washington Street
Project History and Facts
US 41A (SR 16) is an existing principal arterial route between SR 64 in
Shelbyville and the Tullahoma City Limits. The route connects Shelbyville
in Bedford County, Tullahoma in Coffee County and Winchester in Franklin
County. The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) agreed to study
the existing route for possible operating deficiencies due to requests
from state elected officials. In the study, compiled in an Advanced
Planning Report completed in May of 1996, the twenty (20) year traffic
projections were applied to the current operating conditions. It was
determined that if the route were not improved, traffic congestion and
accidents would increase, and overall safety would be impaired. The
department recommended increasing the number of lanes, increasing lane and
shoulder widths, increasing the width of structures and improving
alignment deficiencies in order to accommodate the projected growth in
traffic.
All roadway improvements in the state of Tennessee are conducted within
the department’s four (4) regions. Bedford and Moore Counties are in
Region 3 and Coffee County is within Region 2. This causes the route to be
divided into two separate improvement corridors and for environmental
purposes, separate environmental documents (see Environmental Documents).
This separation also causes differences in funding allocation, project
scheduling and coordination issues. These differences led to the need for
the development of both corridors to be placed under project management (see project management).
The corridor from Magnolia Lane to North Washington St. was let to
construction contract in February 2004. The corridor from SR 64 to
Magnolia Lane is currently under development. See map link to view additional updates and project descriptions.
