Speed limits will return to 40 mph on Elk Avenue
Published 7:11 pm Wednesday, August 23, 2023
- Photo contributed by City of Elizabethton PIO Speed limit signs should soon be changed to reflect 40 miles per hour for travel on Elk Avenue after completion of resurfacing. A small portion will remain at 30 mph until the final section of construction near the Roan Street intersection is completed.
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BY IVAN SANDERS
CITY OF ELIZABETHTON PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER
Local residents have questioned whether the current reduced speed of 30 miles per hour on Elk Avenue is a permanent change.
The answer to that question is no, as according to local TDOT representatives, they are working with contractors to change those signs back to 40 mph as soon as possible.
According to City of Elizabethton GIS and Engineering manager Matthew Balogh, the signs were put up during the resurfacing on the Highway 91 project that ran from the intersection of G St. and Highway 91 to the intersection of Highway 91 and Highway 19-E near Food City.
“They once used orange signs to make motorists aware of the reduced speeds due to construction going on but now simply change out the speed limit signs,” Balogh stated. “That 30 mph speed limit will remain in place from Mill St. to Hwy. 19-E until the construction is completed near the Roan St. intersection.”
Balogh also spoke with TDOT spokesperson Camren Yarberry, who said that there is no official date set in stone for the completion of the project as TDOT will have to modify the box culvert at Roan St., which has recently slowed the progress of the project.
If that work cannot be completed until late in 2023, there is a possibility, depending on the weather, that paving couldn’t be done until the Spring of 2024, as the temperature to pave has to be 45 degrees Fahrenheit and rising.
Balogh also said that the traffic signals at Roan St. have been activated to flash yellow to bring attention to the fact that those signals will go live soon. He said motorists need to utilize extreme caution when going through the intersection.
