Fairfield Pike closed until summer

Motorists who travel Fairfield Pike on a regular basis will be encountering these signs for the next several months. According to the project supervisor for the Shelbyville Bypass, the road is expected to be closed to traffic until the late summer of 2010. (T-G Photo by Brian Mosely) [Order this photo]

Fairfield Pike will not reopen to through traffic until late summer of next year, according to the project supervisor for the Shelbyville Bypass.

While many local motorists use the road to travel to Cascade School, Bell Buckle and other parts of the county, they will have to find another way to their destination, according to Melissa Cannon, Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) project supervisor for the State Route 437 project.

Workers are installing a box culvert in the affected area, which has required the road to be completely dug out. Cannon said also that Fairfield Pike would have its alignment changed as well.

In addition, a large amount of fill material and paving will be done at the site, although the paving will not begin until next spring, Cannon said.

But Fairfield Pike won't be the only road that could face closure. Cannon also stated it is possible that the intersection at Horse Mountain Road and Philippi Road will be detoured for a time, but if it is done, "it won't be until next year."

Cannon also indicated that temporary lane closures could take place on Highway 64, where the bypass will cross.

B.J. Doughty, community relations officer for the Tennessee Department of Transportation, said last month that State Route 437 is estimated to be completed by July 31, 2011.

It's one of 119 road projects in 64 counties throughout Tennessee funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The bid of $14,283,873 for the bypass was awarded in June to Wright Paving Contractors Inc. of Fayetteville.

Grading work on the bypass began off U.S. 41-A South in September, with the new state route consisting of two 12-foot traffic lanes with two 12-foot shoulders.

The bypass will wrap around the city's northeastern quadrant from U.S. 231 north of Shelbyville to U.S. 41-A east of town, and will include intersections at Fairfield Pike, Horse Mountain Road, Philippi Road, Earl Smith Road, Mullins Chapel Road, Fay Creek Road, Fowler Lane, Highway 64 (Wartrace Pike) and 41-A South.

Original plans for the bypass also called for a northwestern loop as well, but it's not clear when or if that will be built.

That proposed loop would start at U.S. 231 and curve southwest to State Route 64 west of Shelbyville, but according to TDOT's web site, this section "is currently not funded for development."