McKinnon gets nod to do Watt Road extension

Heather Beck - farragutpress.com-Thu, Feb, 28, 2013Two major road projects currently are underway within Farragut limits under the supervision of one contractor, Mark McKinnon Construction LLC.

The contractor has been working on the Kingston Pike/Everett Road intersection for more than a year, expanding Kingston Pike from four lanes to five and installing a traffic signal at the dangerous spot.

That project is scheduled for completion in May.

“They’re going to have two projects going on for the same time briefly. They’re still on track for the May completion on Everett Road,” Town engineer Darryl Smith said.

Kingston Pike has been narrowed to one lane in each direction for months at that location, and Everett Road has been closed for the duration of the project.

McKinnon also recently began work on the Watt Road extension and Old Stage Road improvements, which will extend Watt from its dead-end at Cool Sports Home of the Icearium to Old Stage, which will be widened from 14 feet to a two-lane road.

“November 15 is the completion date ... we were a little surprised it had such a quick turnaround, but they’re planning on hitting it as hard as they can,” Smith said.

Watt will consist of a two-lane street, plus center turn lane and island, four-foot bike lanes and a greenway on one side and sidewalk on the other.Old Stage will be two 12-foot lanes wide, plus four-foot bike lanes and sidewalk and greenway. The road will be improved to the Loudon County line, where Old Stage will narrow to an 18-foot wide street.

Smith said construction on Old Stage “will maintain access to local traffic at all times.”

“They may have lane closures at times, and a lane closure would require flagging traffic,” he added.

Kingston Pike traffic shouldn’t be affected.