It appears that the 1-mile section of Highway 99/269 from Swamp Road to the traffic light in Eagleville will become a city road once the new section of 99 that runs on the south side of Eagleville School is opened.

During budget talks, Mayor Nolan Barham brought up the topic of whether the city would be taking over the maintenance responsibility of the old road section.

"I have asked that Highway 99 from the traffic light to the proposed new, improved State Highway 99 continue to be State Highway 269," he said. "In the event that this designation is not awarded it becomes the city’s obligation to maintain and upgrade this road.

In an interview last week, Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) spokeswoman B.J. Doughty said that the decision had already been made (in about 1996) to reroute Highway 269 along the new Highway 99, which will intersect U.S. 41-A just south of Holt Specialty and Equipment Co.

"The old section of 99/269 will be returned to the city of Eagleville for maintenance," she said.

Doughty said TDOT’s long range planning division makes such road routing decisions and the decisions are often made early on in the project planning stage.

The original advance planning report for the Highway 99 project, that was dated April 30, 1996, included the heading "Disposition of Existing Route," Doughty said.

The report states: "Any portion of State Route 99 that is not utilized in the completion of this project will be removed from the state highway system and will become the responsibility of local government."

"It further states that State Route 269 will run along improved State Route 99 from State Route 16 to State Route 269 in the Concord Community,’ " she said.

Councilman M.A. Smitty remarked at the June 1 budget meeting that the city will have to look for a new name for the road if it is not designated Highway 99/269 anymore.

Both Smitty and Vice Mayor Ronnie Hill live on the road, so that joked about naming the roadway either Smitty Boulevard or Hill Boulevard.

The section of Highway 99 from the traffic light to the city limits is currently named W.H. "Buck" Dyer Parkway. Dyer was the first mayor of Eagleville, having served from 1949 to 1970.

The Eagleville City Council voted in 1993 to have the portion of 99 in the city limits named for Dyer, who had died the year before.

The road opposite W. H. "Buck" Dyer Parkway at the traffic light in Eagleville, which will continue as Highway 269, is named Allisona Road.