Dec. 20—The construction of Mt. Juliet’s Central Pike Interchange was greenlit by the Tennessee Department of Transportation on Monday morning as a part of the Tennessee Transportation Modernization Act.

“We’re excited about the interchange and our plans for long-term traffic relief,” Mt. Juliet Mayor James Maness said. “We were also pleasantly surprised to see that we will be fully funded for the Central Pike widening beyond the interchange and the funds committed to the South Mt. Juliet Road widening.”

According to TDOT’s 10-year project plan, the construction year for the interchange at Central Pike and I-40 will be 2030. The estimated cost for the project is $45.2 million, with 92% of funding coming from traditional state and federal funding, and 8% coming from the Transportation Modernization Act. Mt. Juliet put $25 million towards the project in an effort to expedite its completion.

“This is a very important project for the city of Mt. Juliet and Wilson County to alleviate traffic congestion,” Mt. Juliet Public Works Director Matt White said in a press release. “I give credit to our mayor and commissioners for their vision and leadership to invest this large sum of money in an effort to accelerate this very important project.”

The project is expected to help alleviate traffic.

“I’m excited about it,” commissioner Bill Trivitt said. “There’s a lot of growth that’s going on out there. We need to look out for the citizens that are in that area, and we also need to make sure that we support our first responders.”

Fellow commissioner Jennifer Milele was also excited to hear about the upcoming project.

“Those of us who went out on a limb and approved that mixed use development at Providence-Central, we were banking on this (interchange coming),” Milele said. “This is going to tie in together, and this is going to be a game-changer for Mt. Juliet.”

Even before Providence-Central was built, the interchange was a topic of discussion.

“I’ve been hearing about this interchange for 30 years,” Milele said. “Being a part of approving the entire Providence-Central development, it’s just a great feeling to be a part of that and see TDOT come in to fix the whole area. It’s just astonishing.”

While commissioner Scott Hefner is glad that the interchange is coming closer to fruition, he said he’s apprehensive about the money the city provided.

“I question how much $25 million of taxpayer money actually helped facilitate and expedite this,” Hefner said. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that they’re going to move forward with it. I’m just not sure how much $25 million of taxpayer money really got us.”