Farragut Decision ’24: Burnette
Ward 2 South alderman seat
Drew Burnette
• I was born in Farragut in 1980 and continue to live here with my wife Brooke and five children. I love this community so much that I’ve never wanted to live anywhere else.
I am fully committed to keeping Farragut a great place to live and I want to ensure residents have a voice in the future of our Town.
Some things that I’ve accomplished over the last four years: the creation of the Outlet Drive corridor and bringing Topgolf to Farragut, the Implementation of a new traffic management system that is currently being installed, working closely with TDOT on the I-40 Corridor project to make upgrading the Campbell Station interchange a priority and adding lanes to I-40 that will keep traffic on the interstate and reduce cut-through traffic in Farragut, the All-Inclusive Playground behind Town Hall, McFee Park Phase 2 including tennis courts, a basketball court and the Great Lawn, Farragut’s first adaptive biking/walking trail and road improvements occurring on Union Road.
My re-election promises are advocating for controlled development, focusing on infrastructure and safety, and promoting our parks and greenways. I love talking to and meeting with residents throughout the Town. My e-mail is DrewforFarragut@gmail.com
-What are one or two biggest issues/challenges facing the South Ward, specifically, and one or two of the biggest issues/challenges facing Town of Farragut? What are you going to do about it?
• Knox County is the second fastest growing county in Tennessee and Farragut is where many people want to live because it’s a highly desirable community.
We have been working on multiple projects that will help alleviate traffic and the first is the new traffic light system that is being installed throughout Farragut.
This $7 million project is being funded by a federal grant. Once it is installed this new system will be fully connected by fiber and the controls for the traffic lights will live in the cloud, can be adjusted remotely and timing for the lights will be optimized based on current traffic patterns.
We have numerous other traffic mitigation strategies in the budget like a light at Jamestown Boulevard and Campbell Station Road that will reduce strain off the intersection at 35North.
I’ve heard from many neighbors around Concord Road that they desire easier access turning out of their neighborhood onto Concord Road.
We have a project in the budget to add a stop light at Loop Road, which will create gaps in traffic that will mitigate this issue. Earlier this year our Town engineer, Town administrator and I met with a traffic solutions company to discuss the benefits of an AI-Powered Traffic System.
What I heard during this presentation was amazing. This cloud-based system analyzes road infrastructure in real-time and automatically adjusts without needing staff support.
I asked to put money in the budget for a system like this, and the Board agreed to hold a workshop and have our traffic consultant educate us on these cutting-edge AI options.
Good traffic management takes a multifaceted approach, and I will continue to advocate for these enhanced solutions to optimize traffic flow in our Town.
Personal information
• I was appointed to fill a two-year term, then I was elected to a four-year term in 2020.
I have worked in the Surgical Equipment Sales space for the last 20 years.
I met my wife, Brooke, on a mission trip to South Africa.
