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WYSH: Clinton bridge replacement contract awarded

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Hon. William Everette Lewallen Memorial Bridge

The Hon. William Everette Lewallen Memorial Bridge on Clinch Avenue near downtown Clinton is pictured above in December 2013. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Information from WYSH Radio

WYSH Radio has reported that the contract to replace the Lewallen Bridge on Highway 25W/State Route 9 (Clinton Highway/Clinch Avenue) over the Clinch River near downtown Clinton was awarded on August 17 to Charles Blalock and Sons Incorporated of Sevierville. Their bid for the replacement of the bridge, known to locals as the “green bridge,” came in at $27,735,269.72.

The bridge connects downtown Clinton and north Clinton to south Clinton.

The aging bridge is due for replacement, according to the state, and while it is still considered safe, the replacement will address looming concerns regarding the structure due to its age. [Read more…]

Roads icy: Oak Ridge Schools, Roane State closed today

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A tractor-trailer jack-knifed on Interstate 40 West at mile marker 349 in Roane County. That roadway is closed, the Tennessee Department of Transportation said. I-40 East at MM 349 has one lane open. Roads are very icy in this area, TDOT said Monday morning, Jan. 8, 2018. The Oak Ridge/Gallaher Road exit is Exit 356. (Photo courtesy TDOT)

A tractor-trailer jack-knifed on Interstate 40 West at mile marker 349 in Roane County. That roadway is closed, the Tennessee Department of Transportation said. I-40 East at MM 349 has one lane open. Roads are very icy in this area, TDOT said Monday morning, Jan. 8, 2018. The Oak Ridge/Gallaher Road exit is Exit 356. (Photo courtesy TDOT)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10 a.m.

Oak Ridge Schools are closed today as a layer of ice coated the ground in Oak Ridge, making roads and sidewalks slippery.

The schools had originally planned to open two hours late.

Other local school systems are also closed today (Monday, January 8) as the forecast had called for freezing rain or a wintry mix of precipitation around school arrival time this morning. Among the other school systems closed are Anderson County, Clinton, and Roane County. Roane State Community College is closed today as well (see here for more information). [Read more…]

THP investigates fatal crash on Clinton Highway near Anderson-Knox county line

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anderson-county-sheriffs-department-clinton-highway-sept-30-2016

A short section of Clinton Highway was closed at Mehaffey Road going into Knox County on Friday, Sept. 30, 2016 as the Tennessee Highway Patrol investigated a fatal crash. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 5:40 p.m.

Clinton Highway was shut down in both directions near the Anderson-Knox county line on Friday afternoon as the Tennessee Highway Patrol investigated a fatal crash, authorities said.

The road will be closed “until further notice,” the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department said early Friday afternoon. “Please avoid this area.”

It’s a multi-vehicle crash, said Mark Nagi of the Tennessee Department of Transportation. [Read more…]

Rockslide work continues, but one lane re-opens on I-75 North in Campbell Co.

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I-75 North Campbell County March 24 2016

The Tennessee Department of Transportation re-opened one lane of traffic on Interstate 75 North in Campbell County on Thursday morning, March 24, 2016. (Photo courtesy Mark Nagi via Twitter)

 

Work continues on rockslide at Mile Marker 142

The Tennessee Department of Transportation re-opened one lane of traffic on Interstate 75 North in Campbell County on Thursday morning. Both lanes had been closed since February 26 due to a rockslide that occurred at Mile Marker 142.

TDOT said one lane will remain closed on I-75 North. Work continues in the area as crews remove slide debris, stabilize the existing slope, and repair the interstate. The entire repair project is scheduled to be complete on or before April 15.

One northbound lane remains closed. I-75 reduces to one lane starting at MM 141.

TDOT spokesperson Mark Nagi reported that traffic was moving smoothly on Thursday morning. [Read more…]

I-75 South to re-open tonight at rock slide in Campbell County, TDOT says

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I-75-Rock-Slide-Campbell-County-Feb-28-2016-III

A significant slope slide occurred near Mile Marker 142 on I-75 North in Campbell County on Friday, February 26, 2016. Currently, all lanes are closed in both the northbound and southbound directions. (Photo courtesy TDOT/Mark Nagi via Twitter)

 

Both lanes of southbound Interstate 75 will open tonight (Wednesday, March 9) at the rock slide site in Campbell County, a state official said.

The southbound lanes will open at about 9 p.m., said Mark Nagi, spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

I-75 North remains closed. One lane in that direction will open on or before March 24, Nagi said. [Read more…]

TDOT photos, videos of rock slide on I-75 in Campbell County

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I-75-Rock-Slide-Campbell-County-Feb-28-2016-I

A significant slope slide occurred near Mile Marker 142 on I-75 North in Campbell County on Friday, February 26, 2016. Currently, all lanes are closed in both the northbound and southbound directions. (Photo courtesy TDOT/Mark Nagi via Twitter)

 

A significant slope slide occurred near Mile Marker 142 on I-75 North in Campbell County on Friday, February 26.

Currently, all lanes are closed in both the northbound and southbound directions between the Caryville and Jellico exits.

The video below is from the Tennessee Department of Transportation from Monday, February 29. It shows just how much debris has made its way onto the road. Rocks continue to drop all the way to the median, and some ended up on the southbound lanes as well, according to TDOT.

[Read more…]

Rock slide closes I-75 in both directions in Campbell Co.; detours could last weeks

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Campbell-County-Rock-Slide-I-75-Feb-26-2016

A rock slide closed the northbound and southbound lanes of Interstate 75 in Campbell County on Friday, and state officials said motorists should be prepared to use detours and alternate routes for weeks. (Photo courtesy Mark Nagi/TDOT)

 

A rock slide closed the northbound and southbound lanes of Interstate 75 in Campbell County on Friday, and state officials said motorists should be prepared to use detours and alternate routes for weeks.

The rock slide initially closed just the northbound lanes. But on Friday night, the Tennessee Department of Transportation said the interstate was closed in both directions.

There are detours at Mile Marker 160 on I-75 South and at Mile Marker 134 on I-75 North. [Read more…]

I-75 North in Campbell County closed due to rock slide

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The northbound lanes of Interstate 75 are closed in Campbell County due to a rock slide, state officials said Friday afternoon.

Northbound traffic is being diverted at Exit 134 to US 25W and then back to I-75 North at Exit 160 in Jellico, according to the Tennessee Department of Transportation. Traffic between mile markers 134 and 141 is using Exit 141.

Southbound traffic is not affected.

If you are headed north on I-75 and need updates, you can follow TDOT spokesman Mark Nagi on Twitter. Nagi said he will be providing updates throughout the night.

TDOT: Lewallen Bridge in Clinton slated for replacement

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Hon. William Everette Lewallen Memorial Bridge

Pictured above is the Hon. William Everette Lewallen Memorial Bridge on Clinch Avenue near downtown Clinton.

Information from WYSH Radio

The Tennessee Department of Transportation will be replacing the Lewallen Bridge—known as “the green bridge” to locals—that connects Clinton and South Clinton on Highway 25W within the next couple of years.

Clinton city officials met last Friday with TDOT representatives to learn more about the project and its tentative schedule. TDOT spokesman Mark Nagi in an email said that the new bridge will be realigned to the park side of the bridge, which is upstream from the current bridge, so that the state can avoid “the costly acquisition of several homes” downstream of the bridge in the other side. [Read more…]

TDOT employee resigns after crash, DUI arrest in Oak Ridge

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A Tennessee Department of Transportation employee who worked in Oak Ridge resigned Thursday after he was charged with driving under the influence following a police investigation of a crash at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Louisiana Avenue on Friday, Feb. 1, officials said.

Police said William Hays Halbert, 56, of Knoxville, had been driving a state-owned 2010 Ford F150 pickup truck, but he had slurred speech and bloodshot, watery eyes, according to an affidavit filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court. Halbert smelled like alcohol and appeared to be confused, and he had a hard time following directions, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Garrett L. Robbins wrote in the affidavit.

[Read more…]

Construction work starts on Centrifuge Way interchange

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Centrifuge Way Interchange Improvements

Construction work has started on a $1 million state project to improve the interchange at South Illinois Avenue and Centrifuge Way in Oak Ridge.

Construction work has started on a $1.2 million state project to improve the interchange at Centrifuge Way and South Illinois Avenue, or State Route 62.

The work started Nov. 14 and could be complete by June 15, said Mark Nagi, Tennessee Department of Transportation spokesman.

The work is being done by J&M Grading Division LLC of Friendsville under a $1.165 million contract, Nagi said.

The work includes building three detention ponds that will be used as sediment basins during construction, reconfiguring the interchange, and extending Centrifuge Way, which was formerly known as Boeing Road.

[Read more…]

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