TN.gov Newsroom

NASHVILLE – In 2008, 13,250 people across the U.S. unbuckled their safety belt and walked away from what could have been a deadly crash. That’s more than 13,000 people who were able to hug their family, talk with friends and live to see another day thanks in part to their safety belt.

 

Tennessee’s Governor’s Highway Safety Office is joining hundreds of law enforcement officials, highway safety representatives and safety advocates nationwide to remind motorists that safety belts do save lives during the annual Click It or Ticket education and enforcement campaign. As part of the campaign, Tennessee’s law enforcement agencies are partnering with border states for special nighttime Hands Across the Border safety belt enforcement events to draw attention to the need to wear a safety belt at all times, day and night.

 

NASHVILLE – A portion of Concord Road (State Route 253) in Williamson County will close beginning June 1, 2010. The closure will allow Tennessee Department of Transportation contract crews to accelerate the excavation and utility relocation work that must be completed for the widening of Concord Road. Concord Road will be closed from Edmondson Pike to Crockett Road for approximately 120 days.  

NASHVILLE—Governor Phil Bredesen announced today that federal aeronautics grants totaling $1,690,891 have been approved for six Tennessee airports.

 

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Several hundred tons of material is being hauled away as crews continue to work to repair and stabilize a mountainside that slid onto U.S. 129/SR-115 on March 14,2010. More than 11,000 tons of rock has been removed from the unstable slope using three trim blasts and scaling. This week, crews have hauled away more than 55 truck-loads of material. Hauling will continue through the rest of the week.

 

NASHVILLE – Road construction won’t slow motorists down as they travel Tennessee’s highways this Memorial Day weekend. The Tennessee Department of Transportation will suspend all construction-related lane closures on interstates and state routes beginning at 12:00 noon on Friday, May 28 through 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, June1. This will provide maximum roadway capacity for motorists expected to travel in the state this Memorial Day weekend.

 

NASHVILLE – If life is a highway, it’s a messy one in many parts of Tennessee, so country music super group Rascal Flatts is joining the Tennessee Department of Transportation to ask Tennesseans to do their part to clean it up by adopting a highway. Rascal Flatts members Gary LeVox, Joe Don Rooney and Jay DeMarcus are featured in a new 30 second public service announcement and on billboards across the state encouraging Tennesseans to “Show Your Pride and Adopt-A-Highway today”. The goal of the campaign is to raise awareness of the volunteer program, encourage more participation and to remind motorists to Stop Litter in Tennessee. 

 

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – After weeks of classes and on-the-job training, several students of the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s “Career Express…The Job Training Fast Lane” program are graduating. The program, which is operated by LeMoyne-Owen College Community Development Corporation (LOCCDC), is funded through a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and is administered by TDOT’s Office of Civil Rights Division. The fourth graduating class of the Career Express Program will receive  diplomas at a graduation ceremony at the newly opened Soulsville USA Towne Center on May 26, 2010. The Center is located at 915 East McLemore.  The keynote speaker for the ceremony is the Honorable George Little, Chief Administrative Officer for the City of Memphis. 

 

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Department of Transportation emergency contractor Pacific Blasting & Demolition Ltd. used a third trim blast on Friday to focus on the remaining unstable rock on the slide area over U.S. 129/SR 115 in Blount County. 

 NASHVILLE – An emergency repair contract is now in place to stabilize and repair a section of Highway 31-E near Westmoreland in Sumner County impacted by a landslide following heavy rains in the area. TDOT awarded a $1.7 million emergency repair contract to Civil Constructors on Thursday, May 20. The contractor is on site today inspecting the damage and will begin mobilizing equipment to the site this weekend.