Germantown studies safety upgrade

Germantown is studying ways to improve safety along a couple of narrow sections of Forest Hill-Irene Road, areas where increased traffic over the years has made the two-lane stretches a cause for concern.

Safety audits and survey work began in November on the sections between Forest Hill Lane and Dogwood Road north of Poplar, and between Poplar Pike and Winchester to the south.

Engineers from Gresham Smith and Partners are performing roadside and intersection safety audits along the two stretches, each about a mile long, while surveyors from A2H are identifying and locating utilities, roadside structures, driveways, mailboxes and ditches.

City Engineer Tim Gwaltney said no decisions have been made on what to do, but odds are the sections will be widened.

"At the minimum, we'll probably widen with turn lanes, but there are no preconceived ideas," Gwaltney said.

Gwaltney said property owners haven't been engaged in the process so far, but there will be meetings to discuss options once the study, including crash history and current use, is completed. He estimated results would be ready for discussion by February or March.

The city budgeted for studying Forest Hill-Irene improvements in fiscal 2017, and money for design and construction will be in the fiscal 2018 budget.

"Most accidents in that area are preventable," Gwaltney said. "As it is, with two lanes and no shoulder, there's nowhere to go. Thirty years ago, it was probably fine. But with the traffic today, it's not."

Forest Hill-Irene runs south to the Mississippi line and north as far as Wolf River Boulevard, where it dead-ends. Many sections are already wider with more up-to-date design to accommodate traffic.

Attorney Charles Perkins has lived along the southern section of Forest HillIrene that's under study, between Poplar Pike and Winchester, since 1980. He built a home along the west side of Forest-Hill Irene at Jenna Road.

Perkins agrees that traffic has increased dramatically, much of it just recently.

"I don't know what's causing it necessarily," Perkins said, "but it's increased a lot."

Despite the increase, Perkins said he hasn't really noted a large number of accidents other than at the intersection of Forest Hill-Irene and Winchester. Still, he agrees that widening wouldn't be a bad idea if it's done properly.

"It would be fine if they do it right with proper landscaping and all," Perkins said.

"It's hard to say without knowing more about what they have in mind."

Perkins said the bigger issue for him is noise from the frequent trains along the track that runs parallel to Poplar Pike across Forest Hill-Irene to the north of his home.

"They put in a sewer a number of years ago, and I built a berm," Perkins said. "So there's not much noise from the road."

Gwaltney said Forest Hill-Irene is the only Germantown road being scrutinized for safety improvements at the moment, but there are other streets that could use similar work.

"Johnson and Stout roads are two that come to mind," Gwaltney said. "They're not the focus right now, but there are other areas that could use it."