A road west of Franklin that residents use as a shortcut to State Road 144 and to get to Franklin Community High School will be shut down for up to a year as it is rebuilt and improved.
Starting this summer, the section of County Road 200N between State Road 144 and Centerline Road will be closed as the road is rebuilt and widened, the intersection at State Road 144 is realigned and a bridge over Youngs Creek is raised. The $4.5 million project is being funded by a $3.6 million federal grant, with Johnson County paying for the remaining $900,000, Johnson County Highway Director Luke Mastin said.
In the past decade, that section of County Road 200N has experienced a significant increase in traffic. In 2004, about 700 drivers used the road every day. That number is now at 2,000, and only expected to increase as Franklin continues to develop to the west, Mastin said. Part of that increase in traffic is due to Franklin Community High School that opened in 2007 north of County Road 200N and east of Centerline Road, with lots of teen drivers using that route to get to school.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryThe road is narrow with a layer of chip-seal, a preservation treatment, and isn’t in good enough condition for the amount of traffic that uses it, he said.
As part of the project, the existing pavement will be torn out, and the new road will have wider lanes and shoulders better suited for its traffic levels, Mastin said. The bridge over Youngs Creek commonly floods, and earlier this week at least two drivers were rescued by firefighters after their vehicles stalled in flood water. A larger bridge is intended to alleviate that problem by allowing water to flow south and not get pushed out onto the road, Mastin said.
Work on the project is scheduled to begin in July but could start earlier if utility relocation is completed sooner than expected, Mastin said.
The road will be closed to traffic for the duration of the project, which will go into the middle of 2019. Residents and farmers will still be given access to their properties along the road, he said.
The upgrades to County Road 200N will make it safer for Franklin residents to travel and help spur more development west of the city, Franklin Mayor Steve Barnett said. The road improvements are badly needed, and he hopes that once the work is complete the route could be used by truck drivers to get onto State Road 144, he said.
Franklin’s long-term plans envision development spreading west. The city has its eye on widening Centerline Road, should voluntary annexations ever bring that area into the city limits, Barnett said.
The city also is studying nearby Simon Road, west of U.S. 31, for potential solutions to drainage issues. That area frequently floods during heavy rain. The goal is to determine what road improvements are needed and have that work done later this summer, he said. And Barnett would like the county to work on its section of that road as well, he said.
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A section of County Road 200N will be rebuilt this year starting in July. Here’s a look at some details of the project:
Where: Between State Road 144 and Centerline Road
When: Mid-July through the middle of 2019
What: A reconstruction of the road, a larger bridge over Youngs Creek and a realignment at the State Road 144 intersection.
Cost: $4.5 million
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