Oak Ridge North moves forward with Robinson Road traffic solutionsOak Ridge North’s most congested thoroughfare, Robinson Road, remains a hot topic of discussion for City Council members and residents as additional alternate solutions have taken form and future studies have been proposed.


Oak Ridge North City Council held a special city workshop June 1 to cover alternate Robinson Road engineering options studied by engineering firm RPS Klotz Associates. As a result of the workshop, council members created their own subcommittee—consisting of council members Alex Jones and Clint McClaren—to go over the findings of the engineering report and take into account questions raised by both residents and council members.


The subcommittee report paved the way for four alternate traffic solutions as well as the recommendation for more in-depth studies to be put forward by
the city.


“Robinson Road is too important to the city and the residents to rush and throw something together,” Mayor Jim Kuykendall said. “We have the time to do this right.”



Oak Ridge North moves forward with Robinson Road traffic solutions Oak Ridge North moves forward with Robinson Road traffic solutionsPotential projects, studies


On June 27, Jones recommended the council consider three alternate solutions that RPS Klotz studied and presented. Options include putting a signal at Robinson and Hanna roads; realigning Robinson at Hanna roads and extending the eastbound left-turn lane; and widening Robinson Road to four undivided lanes while realigning at Hanna Road and adding signalization.


However, Jones also recommended four new alternate options that serve as hybrids of the previous three solutions.


The four new options offered by the subcommittee include widening Robinson Road to three lanes west of Maplewood Drive and to four lanes east of Maplewood Drive; adding a synchronized traffic signal at Harlan Lane and Maplewood Drive; adding a traffic signal and a protected turn lane at Oak Ridge Park Drive; and adding traffic lights at both the Oak Ridge Park Drive and Harlan Lane and Maplewood Drive intersection.


Jones said the subcommittee recommended the council request a detailed breakdown of estimated costs for bringing streets up to par for construction with requirements related to the four new options.


“That stems from the fact that [Klotz] gave us these really low numbers saying this is what it costs to throw it in, but then we started pressing them at how they got to these numbers [and] they didn’t have answers,” Jones said.


The subcommittee also recommended the city request estimates of total actual drive time to travel between the Patsy Lane and Westwood Drive  intersection and Oak Ridge Park Drive for alternate solutions.


“The matter is seeing when you try to compare a solution—especially when the alternatives we’re throwing out here don’t exactly match any of the solutions [Klotz] provided—we’d like to know which ones are going to benefit drivers,” Jones said.



Funding possibilities


Vicky Rudy, city manager of Oak Ridge North, said funding for these alternate solutions is not currently available.


“We have no ideas about funding right now,” Rudy said. “The most important thing is to commit to what we’re doing.”


Kuykendall said the only possible funding option as of right now is pulling money from the tax increment reinvestment zone, or TIRZ, since Robinson Road was a project that was a part of the May 2015 bond election that did not receive voter approval. The road bond approved by voters in November did not include funding for any Robinson Road projects.


The goal of the TIRZ is to bring in more commercial development to Oak Ridge North through tax breaks and infrastructure improvements. Montgomery County and Oak Ridge North are planning to share the cost of construction in regards to the TIRZ.


“It is true that there is currently no money to fund Robinson Road,” Kuykendall said. “We recently passed the TIRZ that created a partnership with the county to improve the land east of Oak Ridge North. As part of the TIRZ, we will eventually have money to improve infrastructure and hope to use funds from the TIRZ to improve Robinson Road.”


Matt Beasley, chief of staff for Montgomery County Precinct 3, said the precinct’s newly formed transportation task force has acknowledged Robinson Road as a top priority, and the county will be working with the city to configure a solution.


“We’re waiting for the city’s lead; it’s definitely going to be on our agenda whenever the city comes up with a proposal or solution,” Beasley said. “We also entered into the TIRZ with the city, so the county is going to be working with Oak Ridge North.”


Council Member Tom Coale echoed Rudy and said it will be a long time before anything is decided since funding remains an issue. However, Coale recommended the council move forward with an in-depth look at the solutions presented thus far.


“I think the next action that I would like to see taken is to turn this over to [Public Works and Engineering Director] Joe Sherwin and get his prices for doing various pieces that we’re talking about doing,” Coale said. “He looks at it, gets with Klotz and comes back in two weeks, and we debate if we want to do them all or pick one.”



Moving forward


Citizens of Oak Ridge North also voiced concern over possible obstruction of property dilemmas some traffic solutions would create and whether citizens will still be informed over potential
projects.


Jolene Custard, a resident of Oak Ridge North who lives on Robinson Road, voiced her concern at the June 27 council meeting regarding one of the alternate solutions.


“By adding a traffic light at Harlan Lane and Robinson Road, how am I supposed to back out of my driveway?” she said. “Harlan Lane goes into my driveway.”


Resident Bob Martin said he would like to see more information made available to citizens to better understand the projects.


“I’m really confused—and I’m sure other people are too—because it’s very important to the city and the residents,” Martin said.


The rest of the council members agreed with Coale and are expected to move forward with determining details of the possible solutions. The city will again work with RPS Klotz to get more information back to residents.


Although the Robinson Road project is still a major priority for the council and residents, there is no concrete timeline for future studies and solutions due to a lack of funding.


“It’s the same old story. We have got plenty of time to do this right,” Coale said. “This is a major decision, and the only way I know that it could be extradited is if some[one] comes along and writes a check for it.”