Dec. 23—Widening Interstate 40 further east in Lebanon was included in the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s one-year project plan.

“I appreciate them doing that and investing in that corridor,” Lebanon Mayor Rick Bell said during Tuesday night’s city council meeting. “According to their schedule, that construction will be in 2028. That’s still a little bit down the road, but it is going to happen.”

The preliminary estimate is for an $85-million project.

“They’ve kind of been working their way out on the interchange widening through Lebanon,” Rice said. “The last one stopped at Hartmann Drive. This is (from) Hartmann Drive, and I believe it goes closer to the Sparta Pike-Watertown exit.”

There is also work being done at the Highway 109 and I-40 interchange.

“With the work going on in the 109 corridor, there’s two different projects,” capitol projects director Kristen Rice said. “One is the one that’s been ongoing over the bridge, and that project is to put two northbound, left-turn lanes over the bridge to turn left on to the ramp going towards Nashville.”

The southbound, right-turn lane to the on-ramp will become a yield to the oncoming dual lefts.

The second project on Highway 109 is a safety project for a ramp queue.

“If you drive through that area, that’s an extremely high-volume interchange,” Rice said. “TDOT is great to work with out there, and it’s putting some funds towards some operations out there. But the next project — it’s also on your agenda tonight (as) new business item number five, (and it) goes along with this project I’m about to talk about — is just now in the preliminary design phase. There’s a need for a future traffic signal at the on-ramp on going eastbound that left turn backs up, and we’ve had some safety issues. So, we’re working with them on possibly putting up a temporary signal there until that full project comes through and builds the permanent signal in a couple of years.”

Ward 6 councilor Phil Morehead asked if widening Lebanon Road between Lebanon and Mt. Juliet was included in TDOT’s 10-year plan.

“TDOT has a lot of different plans, and this is their 10-year plan for construction,” Rice said. “They’ve got another long-range plan that they’re working on. That project that you’re mentioning, that’s on their long-range plan. It’s not on this 10-year plan, but there’s a lot of different buckets of money at TDOT, and this one is related to the Transportation Modernization Act that went through the general assembly.”

Repairs to the Mitchell House

The Lebanon City Council voted to approve a budget amendment to cover repairs needed to the Mitchell House after a vehicle crashed into the building.

“There was a good video, and our detectives did a super job in identifying the person that hit the building,” Lebanon Police Chief Mike Justice said. “(There was) substantial damage. (They) got out of the car, looked at the damage, got back in the car and left. We’re attempting to recuperate some of the costs for the city.”

Ward 3 councilor Camille Burdine asked how bad the damage was.

“If you look at the house, it’s on the left, (to) the carport-looking thing,” Bell said. “They hit one of the outer columns and hit it pretty good. It’s historic, so we’re looking for someone who knows how to do it right to fix it.”