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Tennessee's 'Smart Fix 40': the standard for urban roadway projects

GasBuddy Blog -- It's always easy to complain about major highway projects that take too long, cost too much and are never completed on time. After all, we know there are plenty to choose from. New York's FDR Drive (still under uninterrupted construction since the Nixon Administration) comes to mind.

But there are significant success stories too and often they don't get nearly the same amount of attention. Let's step back a few years to a project that was expedited in Knoxville, TN when the DOT completely closed 1 mile of I-40... because many state DOTs are now reviewing and asking about it today.

Tennessee was able to rebuild a section of the I-40 freeway and interchanges with an accelerated planning and construction approach. It...

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Submitted Jun 18, 2012 By: PD

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gasokie Champion Author Oklahoma Posts:3,444 Points:1,324,520 Joined:May 2007	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 11:40:48 AM Ignore gasokie Report Abuse Seems to me they (the highway builders) are real good at getting a project started and when it reaches it maximum destruction level, poof...they disappear.
albert2008 Champion Author Winnipeg Posts:7,352 Points:1,481,010 Joined:Sep 2008	Message Posted: Jul 14, 2012 5:46:26 PM Ignore albert2008 Report Abuse sounds good
jlf599 Veteran Author Kentucky Posts:339 Points:126,925 Joined:May 2012	Message Posted: Jul 13, 2012 9:26:46 PM Ignore jlf599 Report Abuse Be curious to see more cities and states try this and see how successful it is. In Indianapolis it seems like there are sections that have been under repair for a decade.
honda0105 Champion Author Tallahassee Posts:18,623 Points:1,609,520 Joined:Nov 2008	Message Posted: Jun 22, 2012 2:54:42 AM Ignore honda0105 Report Abuse hope this can be an example of how to do it better.
lbrinkmn Champion Author Minnesota Posts:2,734 Points:1,836,740 Joined:Oct 2005	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 12:49:29 PM Ignore lbrinkmn Report Abuse ok
Cheepo Champion Author Tampa Posts:9,889 Points:3,128,005 Joined:Apr 2003	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 12:35:54 PM Ignore Cheepo Report Abuse About time they use gas taxes for highway construction!!!
AcuraTSX Champion Author Ohio Posts:5,494 Points:2,182,130 Joined:Dec 2005	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 12:26:03 PM Ignore AcuraTSX Report Abuse OK
Dennisjk Champion Author Detroit Posts:6,486 Points:1,925,450 Joined:Apr 2006	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 11:44:39 AM Ignore Dennisjk Report Abuse If they would fix the roads right, they wouldn't have to do it so often but then they could get rid of some of those workers and the unions don't want that.
GrumpyCat Champion Author Alabama Posts:2,606 Points:788,810 Joined:Jun 2009	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 11:32:26 AM Ignore GrumpyCat Report Abuse On January 25, 2002 I was on I-72 southbound south of Knoxville when at 3:30 that afternoon traffic came to a standstill. Idiot construction crew decided to block both lanes so they could work on the junction between a bridge and the roadbed. They already had one lane of the bridge permanently blocked. State Trooper who flew by was none too happy. Later learned I was still 9 miles from the bridge. Of course the construction crew was "finished" by 5:00 PM as thats when they go home for the day. It was only a 2 hour delay. Wish I had spray paint that day to paint "dead body crime scenes" in the middle of the interstate.
DeeLA Champion Author Los Angeles Posts:4,813 Points:1,364,355 Joined:Nov 2008	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 11:28:36 AM Ignore DeeLA Report Abuse Old News.
boldrph Champion Author Topeka Posts:18,371 Points:3,450,665 Joined:Oct 2002	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 11:27:09 AM Ignore boldrph Report Abuse how many days has this been up?
dollarwatcher Champion Author Wisconsin Posts:7,940 Points:1,534,245 Joined:Mar 2007	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 11:21:44 AM Ignore dollarwatcher Report Abuse Once the detour is down people will soon forget the inconvience.
RoadKing95 Champion Author San Jose Posts:20,554 Points:3,603,240 Joined:May 2003	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 11:21:41 AM Ignore RoadKing95 Report Abuse bbthegun wrote; >>That is smart. Wouldn't see that approach in 'stuck on stupid' California. << WRONG! I don't know about So.Cal., but up here we have had some very successful projects coming in under budget and earlier than estimated by giving bonuses for early completion and penalties for being late. bb if you hate California so much perhaps its time to think about going to Tx or Az. Their politics seem to be more aligned with your point of view. [Edited by: RoadKing95 at 6/19/2012 2:23:41 PM EST]
bojiway1 Champion Author Minnesota Posts:2,044 Points:478,060 Joined:Dec 2011	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 11:21:14 AM Ignore bojiway1 Report Abuse need more details
NemoIL Champion Author Illinois Posts:3,020 Points:1,312,245 Joined:Aug 2008	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 11:19:45 AM Ignore NemoIL Report Abuse What does this have to do with gas prices?
ljmh Champion Author Akron Posts:3,047 Points:551,060 Joined:Feb 2011	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 11:19:20 AM Ignore ljmh Report Abuse Sounds ok
ItisAJeepThing Champion Author Tucson Posts:19,747 Points:2,150,605 Joined:Oct 2006	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 11:16:45 AM Ignore ItisAJeepThing Report Abuse We couldn't divert all traffic off the Interstate Highway (I-10) onto surface streets, so it wouldn't work here in Tucson, AZ.
GatorGuy Champion Author Columbia Posts:2,228 Points:1,206,645 Joined:Jan 2009	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 11:16:44 AM Ignore GatorGuy Report Abuse Ah yes, I remember that a few years ago....
MustangRacing Champion Author Virginia Posts:1,838 Points:649,235 Joined:May 2011	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 11:15:35 AM Ignore MustangRacing Report Abuse good idea, old news.
Stevedog Champion Author Michigan Posts:3,853 Points:1,945,895 Joined:Jul 2006	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 11:15:06 AM Ignore Stevedog Report Abuse smart fix 40 sounds like a birthday treat
firechief Champion Author New York Posts:3,441 Points:2,066,150 Joined:Mar 2004	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 11:12:39 AM Ignore firechief Report Abuse Not every place can handle the amount of traffic that would be diverted
mreiff Champion Author Louisville Posts:5,350 Points:1,303,690 Joined:May 2009	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 11:09:43 AM Ignore mreiff Report Abuse Am interesting approach but boy I would hate to have to deal with that if I lived there.
DutchTreatMI Champion Author Grand Rapids Posts:3,310 Points:751,690 Joined:Mar 2011	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 11:08:18 AM Ignore DutchTreatMI Report Abuse The M6 Addition in the West Michigan that goes around the south side of Wyoming and Grand Rapids has been fantastic.
yvonneIL Champion Author Chicago Posts:3,719 Points:738,125 Joined:Apr 2011	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 11:07:23 AM Ignore yvonneIL Report Abuse ok
lucky69 Champion Author Austin Posts:2,761 Points:1,468,340 Joined:May 2008	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 11:05:34 AM Ignore lucky69 Report Abuse Construction is taking too long on everything.
hmiwb Veteran Author Wichita Posts:304 Points:50,695 Joined:Aug 2005	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 11:01:42 AM Ignore hmiwb Report Abuse Whatever works in a given situation.
Taurus1 Champion Author Ohio Posts:3,130 Points:1,674,475 Joined:Apr 2006	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 11:01:37 AM Ignore Taurus1 Report Abuse Sounds smart.
dsaine Champion Author North Carolina Posts:2,997 Points:632,495 Joined:May 2011	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 10:56:24 AM Ignore dsaine Report Abuse Ok.
dad2two Champion Author Dallas Posts:3,538 Points:749,420 Joined:May 2010	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 10:52:06 AM Ignore dad2two Report Abuse In Texas, they pay for performance, charge companies for lane closures depending on the time of day, and have completion milestones. Most of the lane closures occur at night, but a lot of the other construction can occur during the day. It works pretty well for large projects like I-635 in Dallas.
SpankyMI Champion Author Kalamazoo Posts:2,708 Points:759,280 Joined:Jan 2011	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 10:49:58 AM Ignore SpankyMI Report Abuse There are still to many poorly designed roads in this country, what are the engineers thing when it come to traffic flow?
nehemiah Champion Author Portland Posts:4,756 Points:929,640 Joined:Jul 2007	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 10:49:55 AM Ignore nehemiah Report Abuse so let's replicate it
grammamNV Champion Author Nevada Posts:2,335 Points:372,425 Joined:Mar 2011	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 10:49:16 AM Ignore grammamNV Report Abuse 14 months of inconvenience vs 2-3 years - OK
12mpgnavigator Champion Author Seattle Posts:2,774 Points:651,685 Joined:Jun 2009	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 10:48:41 AM Ignore 12mpgnavigator Report Abuse ok
hauler43 Champion Author Oakland Posts:8,158 Points:2,597,750 Joined:Sep 2003	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 10:40:31 AM Ignore hauler43 Report Abuse Great, but may work there may not in other cities
rxman1 Champion Author Toledo Posts:9,545 Points:1,861,895 Joined:Nov 2007	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 10:39:32 AM Ignore rxman1 Report Abuse Good non traditional thinking
mnorthwood13 Champion Author Michigan Posts:1,385 Points:762,885 Joined:Apr 2010	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 10:39:15 AM Ignore mnorthwood13 Report Abuse Didn't LA do this last year for a weekend?
camaro_man Champion Author Kitchener-Waterloo Posts:2,229 Points:610,685 Joined:Jun 2010	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 10:36:36 AM Ignore camaro_man Report Abuse wow
Jeepergeo Champion Author San Bernardino Posts:1,380 Points:586,930 Joined:Jan 2011	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 10:33:37 AM Ignore Jeepergeo Report Abuse Too many politics involved in public works projects today.
waynemustang Champion Author Indiana Posts:6,372 Points:1,665,560 Joined:Nov 2006	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 10:30:13 AM Ignore waynemustang Report Abuse Just do it.
s6sputnik Champion Author Austin Posts:6,222 Points:1,308,130 Joined:Jun 2007	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 10:29:31 AM Ignore s6sputnik Report Abuse Ok!
tc316 Champion Author Twin Cities Posts:10,786 Points:1,727,630 Joined:Apr 2007	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 10:28:44 AM Ignore tc316 Report Abuse Old news
Bud122CA Champion Author California Posts:7,466 Points:1,605,100 Joined:Jul 2008	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 10:27:37 AM Ignore Bud122CA Report Abuse Many roads need to be looked at.
Double_Golden Champion Author San Francisco Posts:2,560 Points:604,635 Joined:Aug 2011	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 10:24:25 AM Ignore Double_Golden Report Abuse ok
MOREDLEG Champion Author Missouri Posts:2,650 Points:610,960 Joined:May 2011	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 10:23:41 AM Ignore MOREDLEG Report Abuse alright
dchiou Champion Author San Jose Posts:2,821 Points:792,990 Joined:Feb 2007	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 10:20:48 AM Ignore dchiou Report Abuse ok
metrojeep Champion Author Fort Worth Posts:2,256 Points:434,870 Joined:Feb 2012	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 10:19:10 AM Ignore metrojeep Report Abuse Repeat
ace12012 Champion Author Phoenix Posts:1,665 Points:324,385 Joined:Apr 2012	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 10:18:20 AM Ignore ace12012 Report Abuse read it before.
byoftDad Champion Author Columbus Posts:4,452 Points:1,233,375 Joined:Apr 2005	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 10:15:39 AM Ignore byoftDad Report Abuse Now we have really degrading this GASOLINE website and we are going to start to allow roadway projects be posted.
jacob5066 Champion Author College Station Posts:1,843 Points:429,840 Joined:Feb 2012	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 10:13:56 AM Ignore jacob5066 Report Abuse Repeat
isis1812 Veteran Author West Virginia Posts:367 Points:191,715 Joined:Mar 2012	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2012 10:11:42 AM Ignore isis1812 Report Abuse Ok