Robinson Road in Oak Ridge North experiences high traffic counts daily.[/caption]
Oak Ridge North City Council unanimously decided to move forward with creating a master thoroughfare plan for the city at Monday night's council meeting.
Joe Sherwin, director of public works and engineering, said a master thoroughfare plan would give the city more control of rights of way for future projects.
"We got a proposal from the engineers who are also the engineers for the South County Mobility Study," Sherwin said. "They've got a wealth of information so we'd like to utilize them. We'd like to use them to develop a master thoroughfare plan [for Oak Ridge North]."
Sherwin said the city would discover what thoroughfares need to be developed and consider Robinson Road in the process.
"What we want to do, is that during the planning stages, we understand what thoroughfares need to happen, especially to the east to take traffic away from Robinson Road," he said. "And so we would make sure when a developer comes in that they understand they develop that as a right of way."
City Manager Vicky Rudy said the master thoroughfare plan would be funded by the city's Economic Development Corporation but council members need to give direction on the plan first.
"This has to go to [the] EDC but we need direction from council for this project," Rudy said. "In order to dedicate future rights of way, you need a thoroughfare plan. If not, you are at mercy of developers. This is critical."
Council members all agreed to move forward with the plan.
Alex Jones, Place 3 City Council member, said he was in favor the plan if it helps with mobility.
"If it avoids creating a mess by not having something in place, I'm all for it," Jones said. "The last thing we need is another road mess."
Robinson Road in Oak Ridge North experiences high traffic counts daily.[/caption]
Oak Ridge North City Council unanimously decided to move forward with creating a master thoroughfare plan for the city at Monday night's council meeting.
Joe Sherwin, director of public works and engineering, said a master thoroughfare plan would give the city more control of rights of way for future projects.
"We got a proposal from the engineers who are also the engineers for the South County Mobility Study," Sherwin said. "They've got a wealth of information so we'd like to utilize them. We'd like to use them to develop a master thoroughfare plan [for Oak Ridge North]."
Sherwin said the city would discover what thoroughfares need to be developed and consider Robinson Road in the process.
"What we want to do, is that during the planning stages, we understand what thoroughfares need to happen, especially to the east to take traffic away from Robinson Road," he said. "And so we would make sure when a developer comes in that they understand they develop that as a right of way."
City Manager Vicky Rudy said the master thoroughfare plan would be funded by the city's Economic Development Corporation but council members need to give direction on the plan first.
"This has to go to [the] EDC but we need direction from council for this project," Rudy said. "In order to dedicate future rights of way, you need a thoroughfare plan. If not, you are at mercy of developers. This is critical."
Council members all agreed to move forward with the plan.
Alex Jones, Place 3 City Council member, said he was in favor the plan if it helps with mobility.
"If it avoids creating a mess by not having something in place, I'm all for it," Jones said. "The last thing we need is another road mess."
