Knox County is fixing a big issue on Northshore Drive – but not the one you're hoping for

Traffic along Northshore Drive has been a hot-button issue for west Knox County and Farragut.

It's even one of the reasons why Farragut aldermen torpedoed a countywide growth plan in a controversial vote last month that will now be reconsidered.

Knox County is making at least $2 million in improvements to the busy road, but not the kind that drivers who complain about traffic would like to see.

"It doesn't add capacity to the roadways, which obviously is something that we would like to do, but this is something that will improve the safety," Knox County Engineering and Public Works Senior Director Jim Snowden told Knox News.

Northshore is about 16 miles long and stretches from Papermill Drive to Lenoir City. The western portion sees about 17,000 cars per day, and the eastern portion sees about 12,000 cars per day, Snowden said.

A push to build more homes along the road amid a housing crunch across Knoxville has riled some residents, who say the road can't handle any more traffic.

To reduce run-off-the-road and head-on collisions, the county plans to widen a significant portion of the road and widen lanes along the whole corridor. The road is in relatively good condition, Snowden said.

Separately, the county plans to conduct a study in the Choto area to identify what projects can be done to increase the capacity of Northshore, Snowden said.

What improvements will be made to Northshore Drive?

From the Cove at Concord Park to the Choto roundabout:

One of the biggest issues plaguing the road is uneven lane widths, which make driving less predictable and thus less safe.

Think of it like a staircase. Your body expects each step to be exactly the same height. But if a step is uneven, there's more of a chance you'll trip.

Some lane sections are 10 feet, while others are 11 feet. Snowden said the county will widen all lanes to 11 feet.

The county also will add two-foot shoulders and gradual slopes, giving drivers more room in case they need to swerve.

The county will have to acquire small slivers of property to make it happen.

The county will continue working on a greenway from Concord Park to the Choto roundabout to give residents a safe place to walk and bike.

Improvements from the Concord roundabout to the Cove:

The county plans to make road shoulders less steep and widen shoulders as needed.

How will these projects improve safety on Northshore Drive?

There were 194 crashes on Northshore Drive from 2018 to 2022, according to TDOT data. The data showed the majority of crashes, 154, resulted only in property damage and none were fatal. However, there was at least one fatality on the road as a result of a crash in March 2022, according to a report from WVLT.

The county analyzed those crashes and found the majority were rear-end accidents (particularly near the cove), run-off-the-road accidents or head-on collisions, Snowden said. A turn lane near the cove was added a few years ago to help reduce rear-end collisions.

Snowden is confident wider lanes and shoulders will greatly reduce head-on collisions and run-offs. The extra shoulder space will give drivers more time to correct themselves and stay on the road. If they do swerve off the roads, gradual slopes will help them get back on the road safely.

It also would reduce what Snowden called "overcorrections," in which a driver swerves too far left to avoid running off the road and moves into the other lane, resulting in a head-on collision.

When will Northshore safety improvements be made?

Road improvements are large tasks and famously take a long time. Case in point: Alcoa Highway.

Right-of-way acquisitions will take some time, but Snowden said he hopes to have that complete in the next few months and start the road improvements in August or September.

From there, construction should take about eight to 12 months, so everything could be done in the spring or summer of 2025.

Construction crews will have to work around peak traffic times, and even then it's difficult because there's already so much traffic all the time, Snowden said.

How much will Northshore improvements cost?

The improvements planned for Northshore are expected to cost from $2 million to $2.5 million. Half of that will come from county funds, and the other half will come from Gov. Bill Lee's $3.3 billion Transportation Modernization Act.

East Tennessee has $750 million to spend from the act, and some of that will be used to create a comprehensive plan for improving Interstate 40 and I-75 traffic near Watt Road and Campbell Station Road.

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that there was at least one fatal crash on Northshore Drive from Jan. 1, 2018, to Dec. 31, 2022, that was not reflected in TDOT’s data.

Silas Sloan is the growth and development reporter. Email silas.sloan@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter @silasloan. Instagram @knox.growth.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knox County plans Northshore Drive construction for safety