At the March meeting of the Sevier County Commission the county roads list was approved. The yearly requirement is to approve the list of county roads and names to confirm the report generated by County Road Superintendent Jonas Smelcer and the E-911 Board.
Since Sevier County went on the E-911 system back in the late 1980’s a lot more care is taken with new roads. Subdivision and property developers must submit the road names to the 911 board for review and approval. The goal is to prevent duplication of street names that could cause confusion on an address in the event of an emergency. The process is required even if the road is to remain a private road that is not maintained by the county.
A more gradual change has taken place in road quality. Before, the county took in roads in subdivisions with out a lot of check up, that’s not the case anymore according to Smelcer. The county keeps four inspectors on hand to ensure that guidelines on materials, width and construction methods for roads are met before the county takes in a road. Once the road is taken in, it is the county’s responsibility to maintain that street.
“If we don’t do that then we’re trapped with some poor condition roads,” said Smelcer.
“We try to keep someone looking down their collars to make sure. It wasn’t that way for a lot of years and were doing a lot of work in some subdivisions now (because of it). There’s a lot to do but we’re trying to keep a handle on them (developers) now.”
The county took in 35 new roadways in 2003 according to the report, including Alleen Circle, Chances Ridge Drive, Rhubarb Lane, Seymour Centre Boulevard and Westin Wood Lane.
Some of the county street names are practical, reflecting the main structure on the road such as County Garage Road, Sims Cemetery Road, Bethel Church Road and Whites School Road. Other names tend to be honorary or memorials such as S.B. Ogle Lane, Robert Henderson Road and Uncle Harvey Road. Other names show a sense of humor or conjure up interesting ideas for area visitors, such as Smoky Mountain Queen Road, Piney Butt Loop, Tittsworth Springs Road and Wahoo Court.

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