Highway 99 Work Moves Closer To Reality (published 12/15/2007)

State transportation department officials opened bids on Friday for the long-awaited Highway 99 reconstruction project to Eagleville.

Lojac Enterprises, which is based in Lebanon, submitted the low bid of $10.4 million for the 4.6 mile project. The reconstruction is to extend from west of Concord Road to Highway 41-A on the south side of Eagleville.

Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) officials now have 30 days to review the bid and either reject it or award the contract, according to B.J. Doughty, a TDOT community relations officer.

"Once this process takes place, it could be another 30 to 45 days before the contractor is on site working," Doughty said. The projected completion date is Aug. 31, 2010.

Information on traffic handling during the construction will be available later in the process, according to Doughty.

"Prior to the start of construction, the contractor will have at least one pre-construction meeting with TDOT’s construction division, where things like traffic control, construction plan, etc., are discussed," she said. "I will be able to give you further details on that a little later."

TDOT has received the Tennessee Department of Conservation and Economic Development permits and are only awaiting the permits from the Army Corps of Engineers, which are on the way, Doughty said.

The reconstruction project will include improvements and widening to parts of the existing roadway with the last part of the route in Eagleville requiring a totally new roadbed to be built.

The proposed roadway will follow the existing Highway 99 alignment from the Concord Road area to about Swamp Road, with some curves being straightened out along the way.

The road will turn south near Swamp Road onto the new roadbed and will run across the fields and pass Eagleville School on the south side. The new section will tie into U.S. 41-A just south of Holt Specialty Equipment Co.

The old Highway 99 into downtown Eagleville will remain the same and a ramp will be built west of Swamp Road to tie the new section into the current road.

The proposed road will have two 12-foot lanes and eight-foot shoulders with 6 feet of the shoulders being paved. Turning lanes will be provided at Swamp Road, Claxton Road, Mount Vernon Road, North Lane, Mount Pleasant Road and Ditch Lane.

The reconstructed roadway plan required 28.13 acres of right of way to be purchased, which was in 57 different tracts. The total right of way costs, including the land, relocations, appraisals and other items, came to almost $2 million.

The right of way acquisition involved seven residential relocations and no businesses.

The roadwork will affect about 4.23 acres of wetlands that are located in six different areas and vary in size from .145 to 2.27 acres. The wetland areas are mostly adjacent to the part of the road that follows the existing route.

The Highway 99 upgrade from Murfreesboro to Eagleville has been in the works for about 14 or 15 years. The part from Murfreesboro to Concord was completed about a decade ago.

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