KYLE MURPHYStaff Writer

Tullahoma residents will soon be seeing new traffic signals in downtown as Tullahoma Utilities Authority works on replacing three traffic signals.

Earlier this spring, TUA began work on replacing the over 40 year old traffic signals at the intersections of Jackson Street at West Lauderdale, West Lincoln and West Grundy streets. The $1.2 million project was previously approved by the Tullahoma Board of Mayor and Alderman in December 2021, with S&W Contracting’s bid being approved. According to TUA President Brian Skelton, all of the city’s traffic signals are owned and maintained by TUA, meanwhile the city finances ongoing maintenance for the lights through an annual fee paid to TUA.

“We are putting traffic signals at Grundy, Lincoln and Lauderdale that will match the traffic signals that are at Publix, which are the black poles and the overhung arms,” Skelton said. “We will get rid some of the wires that are going down through there also because they will be connected by fiber and talking to each other by fiber.”

He added once completed, the three new traffic signals will be synchronized with each other to let the traffic flow better downtown so drivers can drive straight through without having to stop at each light.

“The connectivity and those signal controls are old and we were trying to maintain them and they were in desperate need of upgrading,” Skelton said.

Per Skelton, the utilities authority hopes to have the project completed by the first half of the summer. The project was originally expected to be completed by the summer of 2022 but due problems the delivery of materials caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the project had to be pushed back multiple times. Skelton said the biggest hold up was the controls themselves.

“They had trouble getting the controls,” he said. “We’re hoping they will get that project wrapped up in June or July.”

The bid from S&W Contracting includes: individual costs of $278,490 for Grundy Street, $299,428 for Lincoln Street, $288,698 for Lauderdale Street, $42,210 to remove and replace the sidewalk, $136,462 to remove and replace the curbing, $30,700 to install PVC conduit, $5,800 to install RGS conduit, $28,260 to jack and bore 2-inch conduit, $64,690 to jack and bore 3-inch conduit and $26,320 to install and maintain erosion control. The total cost of the project comes out to $1,201,058.