Traffic solutions for Thornton Heights? Citizens, Town talk
Final of 2 parts
A Town traffic study has been promised to these residents.
“You’ve got quite a contingent here of people, but why are we here? We know what the problem is,” he asked during the roughly 60-minute gathering of residents sounding off while learning Town policies from South Ward Alderman Drew Burnette and Town administrator David Smoak Wednesday evening, Sept. 11, in Concord United Methodist parking lot.
While saying “there’s five to 10 kids having a great time” in various neighborhood yards at any given time when not in school, the former law enforcement official added, “I’m telling you right now, the speed is horrendous.”
Moreover, “I’m one of the first guys that got to the little girl up here who was this beautiful child … you can’t imagine how you feel when you see that,” he said about the Farragut High School female student who was seriously injured by a hit-and-run driver while waiting for her bus at the corner of Thornton and Hughlan drives Aug. 8. “… Two days later, there was another car that skidded and did not hit one of the children who was coming home from school.
“… Last weekend, there were three (Knox) County deputy sheriffs up and down Hughlan, occasionally. You know what happened? Four people got tickets, and all of a sudden things start slowing down,” he added. “Now, you know that you can’t (speed).”
Such KCSO patrols, however, aren’t expected to be a regular part of their routine — and speeding may return.
Another resident said, “One of the problems with the accident that morning is the fact that somebody cut the corner on the side of the road, went through the yard where the girl was sitting. Is there any way at the intersections to force people to take the curve properly?”
Yet another resident said, “I mean, it’s getting to the point for me to where I don’t want my daughter to go out of view at the front of my house. ... My wife is getting in her car one day and somebody drove by so fast, her hair flew up in the air.
“I can identify about three vehicles that go where they live on Thornton that hit our speed bumps every bit of 40 miles an hour,” he added. “They don’t even hit the brakes.”
There’s a big difference in asphalt versus cushion speed bumps, it was told.
“If you are speeding upon hitting asphalt speed bumps, “You will break your tires. You will bust your tires,” one resident said. “... You definitely need to touch your brakes unless you don’t care about your car.”
Asked by one resident if the Town “can’t put up a camera,” another resident said, “a sworn officer has to see the visible offense with their own eyes, unfortunately.”
Using the example done in Kingsgate subdivision, Burnette said, “We put stripes and dotted lines. What it’s meant to do is cause people to caution and slow down. It feels like the road’s narrower. You see that that’s a place for somebody to walk.
“The middle line pushes you over, keeps you in your lane, and it naturally causes people to slow down,” he added.
However, “I don’t think we have enough space here because I think we’re pushing 16 or 17 feet (wide),” Burnette said. “ ... One of the things you have to know is as you widen roads, speed goes up because you feel safer. McFee Road, I think we learned a lot of lessons. It’s beautiful and big and wide, and all it does is encourage you to race.”
About most of the speeders, one resident said, “They are not people from around here. They do cut through and they do fly through there.”
For example, “I’ve been watching the traffic pattern on Kingston Pike at about 4:45 every afternoon, it backs up to Thornton. Then they cut through,” she added.
“In fact, I had to wait where at Thornton and Hughlan — right across the street from where the (Aug. 8) accident happened — I had to wait at my driveway for 10 cars to come by before I could back out at 5 o’clock in the afternoon.”
Still another resident said, “I grew up on these streets for 10, 15 years living in this area all summer, all day after school. It breaks my heart to see what a cut through this has become.
“I do about 4 miles a day just walking around the neighborhood with my sons. I can tell you every single day .... people just cutting through the neighborhood isn’t going to stop. It’s going to get much worse.”
Smoak announced that sometime later this fall the Town’s new Redlight system would be operational, where traffic lights would be much more in sync, allowing for less congestion, especially on Kingston Pike.
The idea of state-mandated bus stop areas, which would fall under the direction of Knox County Schools if implemented by a vote of Tennessee General Assembly (senate and house), was discussed.
One resident recalled when the Town placed speed-checking sensors in an area of Hughlan “where there’s no traffic up here.”
Moreover, “The guy (living) behind me is fussing because they put the speed bumps in front of his house, and he said it’s very hard for him to get his camper in and out,” that same resident added.
Having sought traffic solutions for Thornton Heights dating back to at least 2007, resident Joe McBride was asked about the question and comment session — and if it would help to spark change in his neighborhood.
“It was a good turnout, but other than that, I’m not getting that warm feeling about it,” he said. “They’re saying another two months when we’ve been waiting 17 years. So in other words, it’s sit and wait again.
“I want to see something happen,” McBride added. “How many more accidents before something happens?”
