Seymour sees more traffic

Chapman narrows during bridge repair

Folks traveling between Seymour and Sevierville will have to endure a few months of headaches while some bridge repair work has Chapman narrowed to two lanes, and while a road widening project in underway.
Tennessee Department of Transportation officials are in the process of coordinating three bridge repair projects along Chapman Highway, taking the road down to two lanes for a brief stretch between Seymour and Sevierville.
Chapman Highway bridges spanning Knob Creek and Bridge Creek, near Mount Zion Church Road, are currently having repair work done, according to TDOT spokesman, Travis Brickey.
Original plans for the repair work called for work on another bridge, the portion of Chapman Highway leading into downtown Sevierville, next to Walgreens, to be underway before the other two bridges.
TDOT had originally told Sevierville city officials that repair work on the downtown bridge would begin over the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend.
“We’re in the process of re-evaluating this bridge so we allowed the contractor to go ahead and start the other two bridges,” said Brickey.
Brickey said it was difficult to estimate a finish date for these projects as plans have changed at the last minute. Estimates based on the original plans called for the repairs to be wrapped up by Memorial Day.
In another TDOT project, contractors Blalock & Sons have begun work to extend the center turning lane on Chapman Highway for a 1.2-mile stretch in Seymour, past the Boyd’s Creek/Maryville highways intersection.
The long awaited Seymour Turn Lane Project is well underway, according to Doug Blalock of the Blalock Companies. “Our people have already surveyed the site again, put up silt fencing and we’ve moved equipment on site to start within days.” Blalock told The Herald.