Resurfacing work on Emory Valley Road is expected to start on Monday, November 3, officials said.
The work will be done by Rogers Group Inc., working under contract for the Tennessee Department of Transportation.
The portion of Emory Valley Road to be resurfaced will begin west of Davidson Lane and proceeds west about 1.3 miles to Lafayette Drive, a city press release said. [Read more…]
TDOT Commissioner John Schroer presents a signal optimization grant check to Oak Ridge Mayor Pro Tem Jane Miller. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)
Grant for signal optimization
The City of Oak Ridge has been awarded a Tennessee Department of Transportation grant for $237,500 for a signal timing optimization project, and TDOT Commissioner John Schroer recently presented the award to Mayor Pro Tem Jane Miller in Nashville.
The signal timing optimization grant is funded by the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program, or CMAQ, which supports transportation projects that reduce air emissions from on-road sources and non-road sources, as well as projects that reduce traffic congestion, a press release said.
“The city is pleased to receive this grant which will significantly enhance air quality and reduce congested roadways,†Oak Ridge City Engineer Steve Byrd said in the press release.
The signal timing optimization project will target 26 traffic signals on Illinois Avenue, Oak Ridge Turnpike, and Lafayette Drive. The program will synchronize these lights in order to improve traffic flow, reduce congestion and vehicle idling, and decrease commuter travel time. [Read more…]
A 14-year-old was hit by a vehicle at the intersection of Lafayette Drive and Laboratory Road on Tuesday morning, authorities said.
The crash occurred at about 7:47 a.m. Tuesday, the Oak Ridge Police Department said.
The boy was crossing Lafayette Drive on foot when he was struck by a northbound vehicle, the ORPD said in a statement. The teen was transported to Methodist Medical Center for treatment of minor head injuries.
The driver of the vehicle was cited for failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
Marquette Road between Lafayette Drive and North Purdue Avenue in the Woodland neighborhood will be closed during the week of September 8 for rehabilitation work on the city’s sewer system.
Oak Ridge officials expect the work to be done by September 12. It’s being done by Portland Construction Inc. under a contract with the Oak Ridge Public Works Department. The contractor is providing rehabilitation work on the city’s gravity wastewater collection system, a press release said.
The temporary road closure on Marquette Road between Lafayette Drive and North Purdue Avenue will allow Portland Construction to lay pump hoses across the closed portion of the road, the press release said. Access to parking at the First Baptist Church located at 1101 Oak Ridge Turnpike will be maintained, and Gettysburg Avenue may be used as a detour. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge has received a $237,500 air quality grant that will be used to coordinate the operations of traffic signals at 26 intersections on three main roads: Illinois Avenue, Oak Ridge Turnpike, and Lafayette Drive.
The grant will improve the management of current and future traffic flow and reduce congestion and vehicle idling, according to a project summary posted by the Tennessee Department of Transportation.
It was one of 31 grants totaling more than $27 million announced in 11 communities across Tennessee on Friday. The Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement, or CMAQ, grants were announced by TDOT Commissioner John Schroer.
The grants are meant to reduce congestion and improve air quality. Funded projects include expansions of the TDOT HELP truck program statewide, improvements in traffic signal timing, cleaner transit buses and alternative fuel vehicles purchases, and protected bicycle lanes in Chattanooga. The grants also include a multimodal river port in Clarksville, and expanded transit service in several areas. Another project will include the addition of a bicycle-pedestrian trail on the Harahan Bridge in downtown Memphis. [Read more…]
A section of South Illinois Avenue will be closed Saturday night as a city contractor removes the abandoned railroad tracks that cross the busy roadway just south of the intersection with Lafayette Drive and Scarboro Road.
A section of South Illinois Avenue will be closed Saturday night as a city contractor removes the abandoned railroad tracks that cross the busy roadway just south of the intersection with Lafayette Drive and Scarboro Road.
The work by Rogers Group Inc. should be complete by Sunday, a city press release said.
Workers will start installing traffic control devices to close the road and divert traffic to the detour at about 6 p.m. Saturday. The road, also known as State Route 62, or SR62, will be closed at roughly 8 p.m., the press release said.
“To minimize the inconvenience to the public, this work will take place overnight,” it said. [Read more…]
Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. said an eastbound traffic camera at Oak Ridge Turnpike and New York Avenue/Lafayette Drive had the third-highest rise in detected speeding violations, a 243 percent increase in the number of drivers traveling at 46 mph or more, after the cameras were disabled April 21. Pictured above is the westbound camera.
The Arizona company that operated traffic cameras in Oak Ridge for five years said reckless driving has increased significantly, average speeds have risen, and there has been an increase in red-light running and speeding violations since the systems were disabled April 21.
The two biggest increases in speeding violations were in school zones on eastbound and westbound Robertsville Road near Willow Brook Elementary School, camera vendor Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. said in a report that could be discussed during a Traffic Safety Advisory Board meeting on Tuesday. The average number of school zone violations jumped from a little more than two per day in the 14 days before the cameras were disabled to 10 or 11 per day afterward.
A school zone violation occurs when a driver is detected traveling at 21 mph or more in a 15 mph school zone.
Meanwhile, detections of red-light violations, which can lead to the most serious accidents, increased from an average of 20 per day at four locations in the three weeks before the cameras were disabled to up to 28 per day in the fourth week afterward, Redflex said. [Read more…]
By Dale Gedcke
The referenced documents were downloaded from the Oak Ridge City Council posting in advance of the (Feb. 24) work session. The numbers quoted below were calculated from the data supplied in the referenced report.
Accident Rates During 2013
Using the total crashes listed in the report, and the number of detected vehicles through the pertinent camera locations from both directions, the accident rates during 2013 were:
The traffic camera for the westbound lanes of Oak Ridge Turnpike in front of Oak Ridge High School is pictured above. More than half of the speeding violations issued in 2013 were for vehicles driving west here.
Note: This story was last updated at 4:17 p.m. March 24.
Oak Ridge City Council could consider extending the controversial traffic camera contract on Monday, but not without some changes. Among the proposed changes are mobile units, different camera locations, and a new revenue split between the city and the camera vendor, Redflex Traffic Systems Inc., of Phoenix, Ariz.
On Thursday, Redflex said it is negotiating these and other issues with Oak Ridge officials.
“Redflex is very proud of our five-year public safety partnership with the City of Oak Ridge,†said Jody Ryan, Redflex communications director. “We are prepared to discuss various options to ensure the city’s traffic safety camera program is comprehensive and provides the highest public safety value.â€
Council has been presented two options to consider during a special Monday night meeting. One would extend the five-year contract for two years with the changes. A second would end the program when the current agreement expires April 21. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider extending or ending the traffic camera contract.
The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider extending a controversial traffic camera contract for two years, or ending it.
The Council postponed a vote earlier this month. It will now be considered during a special 7 p.m. meeting on Monday.
The current five-year contract with Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. of Arizona expires April 21. If it’s not extended, the city staff has asked Council to consider installing a traffic signal in front of the Oak Ridge High School on Oak Ridge Turnpike.
The high school stoplight would have to be approved by the Tennessee Department of Transportation. It could cost $150,000 to $200,000 and take nine months to install. [Read more…]
A car crashed into a utility pole on Lafayette Drive early Monday afternoon, knocking out power to 441 customers.
More than 400 customers lost power early Monday afternoon after a car crashed into a utility pole on Lafayette Drive, officials said.
The driver was reportedly taken to a medical center to be examined but appeared to have escaped major injuries, officials said.
The crash, which snapped a utility pole at an intersection with Midway Lane, was reported to the Oak Ridge Electric Department at about 1:20 p.m.
The Electric Department reported that 441 customers lost power. Most were in the Woodland neighborhood along the so-called “P” streets and Quincy Avenue. [Read more…]
The largest crash reduction near red-light cameras occurred near the system at Oak Ridge Turnpike and New York Avenue/Lafayette Drive.
There has been an overall decrease in the number of car crashes near red-light camera systems installed at four locations in Oak Ridge five years ago, and vehicle speeds have dropped near two schools, officials said.
Council members had requested information about crash frequency and history as the controversial five-year red-light camera contract, approved in August 2008, comes up for renewal in April. The crash information, as well as data on vehicle speeds, is included in the agenda packet for a Monday night Oak Ridge City Council work session.
The information said the largest crash reduction occurred at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Lafayette Drive/New York Avenue. Accidents there fell from 86 to 58, or roughly 33 percent, and injuries fell from 25 to 13, about a 50 percent reduction.
The totals compared the number of crashes from one four-year period starting March 2005 and ending March 2009, and a second period starting April 2009 and ending in November 2013, or a little more than four years. [Read more…]
