Crossville’s Main St. is a busy highway, with many large commercial trucks traveling through the city’s central business district on any given day.

Crossville City Councilman Scot Shanks says he’s ready to move forward with enforcing a truck route that would take those trucks off Main St. and onto alternate routes.

“What do we have to do to force semi trucks to take the bypass around Crossville and not come through Main St.?” Shanks asked during the council’s June 7 work session.

Shanks, who is a substitute bus driver and often drives a large recreational vehicle, said he conducted several studies comparing the time and distance to travel from Hwy. 127 S. and Miller Ave. to Hwy. 127 N. and Miller Ave.

“I did it about 18 times, at different times of day, just timing it myself,” he said. “On average, it’s like a minute, and the distance is not much at all.”

City Engineer Tim Begley said a 30-plus-page book from the Tennessee Department of Transportation outlines the steps and studies required to implement a truck bypass. A key factor is properly posting the truck route.

Crossville Mayor James Mayberry asked how mapping and GPS services would know a truck needs to use a bypass.

“They’re sending those trucks right down Main St.,” Mayberry said.

Begley said the city would need to conduct engineering studies. Starting the process would require issuing a request for qualifications for engineering firms.

“It looks like it’s going to be a long, lengthy process to get all the steps through TDOT and the Federal Highway Administration,” Begley said.

Mayberry noted this is not the first time the council had discussed the issue of large trucks on Main St. and concerns about the safety of pedestrians and other motorists. The city council approved a 2005 ordinance that established Miller Ave. as the truck route around the city. That route takes traffic in front of three schools: Martin Elementary, Cumberland County High School and Tennessee College of Applied Technology at Crossville.

Since 2005, the Milo Lemert Bypass has opened, offering access from Miller Ave. at Hwy. 127 S. near Central Baptist Church to Interstate 40 at Peavine Rd.

City Manager Greg Wood said there are some “choke” points on Miller Ave.

“It would be really good if we could get that out of there,” Wood said, referring to where Miller Ave. goes from two lanes to one lane and then back to two lanes.

Begley said the council does not need to take action until the city receives proposals from engineering firms. At that time, the matter would go before the council for a vote. He estimates a six-week timeframe before returning with proposals.

During a special-called meeting prior to the work session, the council approved:

• second readings of the 2022-’23 tax rate and 2022-’23 city budget, in title only

• second reading of changes to ordinances to allow for beer sales on city-owned property

• first reading adding approved ordinance changes to the Code of Ordinance

• first reading ordinance amendment setting the speed limit in Crossville Villages at 25 mph