GOLDEN MILE MAKEOVER

By William F. West

Motorists having to maneuver through the construction work zone on Wesleyan Boulevard from May Drive to Benvenue Road will get relief by the end of the year.

Crews have been working to widen about two miles of the heavily commercial stretch of Wesleyan from four lanes to six lanes and to put in a “superstreet” type of thoroughfare, all at a cost of about $28 million.

“We think we’ll have everything in the final traffic pattern by the end of 2019,” weather permitting, state Transportation Department spokesman Andrew Barksdale said of the progress of the project. “But the final layer of asphalt and pavement markings will probably be done next spring.”

Barksdale said there will be lane closures for a week here and a week there to complete the last part of the project.

Wesleyan is quite a busy segment between May and Benvenue.

State Transportation Department data shows the average daily traffic count at 34,000 in the area of Stoney Creek and at 36,000 just north of the junction of U.S. 64.

The data shows the count at 23,000 just south of the Wesleyan interchange with Benvenue.

Wesleyan, which is signed as U.S. 301, was opened to traffic in October 1955, originally as a two-lane bypass of downtown but with an overpass and interchange for Sunset Avenue.

The present Wesleyan Boulevard improvement project began in July 2017, with the contract awarded to PLT Construction of Wilson. The project included replacing the Sunset Avenue overpass with a more modern structure.

As a result of the superstreet design, major changes to Wesleyan are taking place.

Specifically, motorists at the intersection of Sutters Creek Boulevard and at the intersection of Ring Road and Independence Drive no longer will be able to cross Wesleyan or turn left onto Wesleyan.

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Instead, motorists will have to turn right to drive to areas of Wesleyan built for U-turns if they want to get to the opposite sides of the intersections of Sutters Creek and Ring and Independence.

The U-turn for southbound traffic is open in the immediate area of 2.75 Cleaners and the Golden Corral restaurant. The U-turn for northbound traffic will be just past the exit for Benvenue.

Proponents of the superstreet design have said the purpose of having such a type of thoroughfare is to keep traffic continually flowing.

State Transportation Division 4 board member Gus Tulloss said the project will be well worth the wait and that Wesleyan will be much safer.

Tulloss emphasized the past data for Wesleyan, which showed there were 233 wrecks, 103 injuries and one fatality on the corridor. The data was for a five-year period leading up to 2015.

“It was just a dangerous, dangerous highway,” Tulloss said.

Tulloss remembered the March 2012 crash in the immediate area of the Golden Corral.

A state trooper was driving a Highway Patrol car north on Wesleyan when a woman driving a sedan exited the Golden Corral parking lot and pulled out in front of the patrol car. The trooper tried evasive action by moving to the left.

The woman, Maurilia Solis Leon, died at the scene. The trooper, A.S. Samuel, subsequently was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Tulloss emphasized the safety factor is the main point in converting Wesleyan into a superstreet.

“And plus we are looking ahead, not for next year or five years,” he said. “We’re looking ahead for the next 15-20 years.”

Trent Coleman, 48, lives in rural Nash County and owns the Corner Coffee Cafe in downtown Nashville.

Coleman said the traffic situation is not too bad after he turns off U.S. 64 onto southbound Wesleyan to go shop at Sam’s Club.

Coleman said Wesleyan north of U.S. 64, however, is inconvenient, namely when he exits the Cook Out restaurant or from the direction of Sutters Creek Plaza because he cannot hook the left onto Wesleyan.

“That’s kind of a problem,” Coleman said. “There’s a lot of traffic. The wait times for the lights are really bad.”

Overall, he said although he only comes to the Wesleyan corridor once or twice a week, “I’d hate if I had to drive it every day.”

He said he will be glad when the project is complete, noting, “There’s traffic barrels and traffic jams all over the place.”

Barbara Williams, a retiree who is a resident of Wilson County, was quick to express her dislike of the construction work.

“It’s just too much. It’s too confusing,” she said.

Williams said she believes drivers can become quite befuddled in the construction zone if he or she is not familiar with the roads.

“And imagine what it’s doing to seniors like us,” she said. “I used to live over here, so I kind of knew what it was like before they started working on it.”

She said when she began seeing the barrels, the scene was quite a shock to her at first.

“I’ve gotten kind of used to it, but I still don’t like it,” she said.

Tulloss acknowledged he has heard grumbling from local residents about having to deal with the construction work zone.

He was quick to note more than a few business people along Winstead Avenue felt they were inconvenienced earlier this decade.

That was when crews widened Winstead to four lanes from just before the traffic signal at Hunter Hill Road to U.S. 64 and transformed Winstead into a divided six-lane thoroughfare from U.S. 64 to Sunset.

Today, he said of the improved Winstead, “Everybody loves it.”

To see a computer visualization of the Wesleyan Boulevard improvement project, visit https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=WRVU0XjCDjw.

proponents oF the superstreet design have said the purpose oF having suCh a type oF thoroughFare is to keep traFFiC Continually Flowing.