By Edie Torial
Growth is always accompanied by uncomfortable baggage. Want more clichés? I can rattle them off for days! Those tired lines have become an excuse for not properly managing the avoidable obstacles opposed to the unavoidable ones as they relate to traffic congestion.
It's a shame a city the size of Clarksville has increasingly difficult traffic issues. An urban planning friend likes to say long time residents aren't experts in transportation based on tenure. Okay, I appreciate the sarcasm. My counter comment focuses on expertise coming with the understanding I could ride a bike with faster arrival times in certain areas of the city. Unfortunately we don't have that option either due to a lack of bike lanes. Yet here we are continuing to hear local government officials use the phrase "smart growth" as a retort to traffic comments. Which, oh by the way, is the complete opposite to local government's actions.
Driving can be a hassle no matter where we live and the high costs of driving also tend to be a deterrent to consumers these days. Hush your mouth! Not here in Clarksville! Jimmy Jones goes to Walmart 3 times per day while his neighbor Martin Moofan drives to Kroger's across town because the quality is "better". If you’re looking for an alternative to driving in Clarksville, you’re just plain out of luck. CTA buses serve a useful purpose, but their need to build around a reliable customer base eliminates real community wide access. Clarksville's issue is sprawl and a bus program isn't going to adequately support a solution to that beast.
Finding the growing traffic hotspots in Clarksville isn't difficult. Do any of these areas sound familiar?
Wilma Rudolph is a Mess
The Governor's Square area is a mess at most points of the day with poor street light synchronization being scape goated. City leadership has intentionally forced traffic through this stretch with the amazingly poor viewpoint of Governor's Square's area being a highlight of the city. What do I mean? The Governor's Square retail area is best compared with the guy my neighbor used to pick up from Home Depot to load rocks. Big, ugly, productive and not very interesting. That's a perfect description of both the rock loader and Governor's Square retail district.
Gateway Hospital and The Missing I-24 Ramp
Why exactly was Gateway Medical Center built at its current location? If you assumed access to I-24, you've assumed wrong. Reducing traffic and helping sick people get to the hospital faster is a great idea? What a novel concept, huh? A ramp connecting the only city hospital to the neighboring interstate would simply benefit everyone. That new off/on ramp also lessens the need for daily use of Wilma Rudolph Boulevard for I-24 access while giving ambulances and people seeking emergency treatment faster access to Gateway. When was the last time a Clarksville politician lobbied TDOT for that specific hospital ramp onto I-24? When was personal gain last involved? If you know one answer the second answers itself.
101st Airborne Parkway
One of the earliest disagreements for 101st Airborne Parkway's planning came from former Montgomery County Executive Robert Thompson. He believed the potential for future commercial development on 101st warranted 6 lanes of traffic to connect Fort Campbell Boulevard to Wilma Rudolph Boulevard. Only now are we beginning to see those concerns come to light all these years later. Have you taken a drive down the 4 lanes of 101st Airborne Parkway lately? Notice the Lowe's Center businesses, hundreds of newish homes, new businesses, apartments, a Walmart store under construction with fresh rumors of new convenient stores, restaurants and an apartment complex on the horizon. We can only imagine the headaches of traffic as the Parkway is finally widened! Looks like Robert Thompson was right way back when ...
Warfield Boulevard
How many neighborhoods roll onto Warfield Boulevard? We have thousands of homes pouring onto Warfield beginning at Madison Street and extending to Wilma Rudolph Boulevard. Most of those homes and schools have been on Warfield Boulevard for decades without any proactive changes to address the traffic flow. As new neighborhoods and business are added to the spine of Warfield it's fragile traffic flow is now becoming prohibitive. This stretch of road is primarily two lanes which doesn't offer nearly enough driving space when considering growth and 3 new traffic lights installed in recent years. These congestion issues will only grow as one of the connecting roads develops into a high growth medical district in future years - Ted Crozier Boulevard.
And for reference, please begin plans to examine congestion on Tiny Town Road. What was formerly farmland with a fenced in Northeast High School has blossomed into a densely populated area. Hundreds of new homes, retail, restaurants and the first real option as a destination area similar to Governor's Square. And guess what? If your visits have been limited to only the theater area, it's a much larger development pattern. A review of the growth, beginning at Fort Campbell Boulevard through to Trenton Road, makes a person aware of significant multi-use development throughout Tiny Town. If you're really ambitious... take a ride across I-24 and view the expansion of homes on old farm lands. It's going to be a traffic concern in the coming years.
Does any local media hold the political types accountable for these questions? Speaking of Tiny Town Road ... Why would local government consider seizing private property via "eminent domain" to build a new connector from Fort Campbell's gates to the Governor's Square retail district? What a slap in the face to local residents as both homeowners and consumers! Is it simply a matter of Clarksville leadership just not thinking outside the box to help develop interesting new areas or is it a continued pandering to out-of-town businesses? One should not exclude the other, if properly managed. We could prioritize locally owned businesses resources while working with out-of-town businesses for their developmental needs as well. It's a shame our city leaders would have to leave their offices to meet with locals for that to be successfully accomplished.
A novel concept, huh?
