City of Spring Hill asks board to cede signal and grant right-of-way for Battle Creek Way improvements; board directs staff to negotiate

Representatives of the City of Spring Hill presented three resolutions to the Maury County School Board seeking the school system’s cooperation on traffic and safety improvements at the intersection serving Battle Creek-area schools.

City officials described three separate requests the city had approved: (1) for the city to assume control of an existing traffic signal at Battle Creek Way, (2) for a right-of-way dedication of roughly 75 feet to allow dedicated turn lanes and intersection improvements, and (3) for a financial partnership to help fund an estimated $1.3 to $1.4 million project to add turn lanes, a dedicated lane into the high school and other safety improvements.

Tyler Scroggins and other city staff explained the work would include a dedicated lane into the high school, a left-turn lane on Mahlon Moore Road and turning-lane improvements to serve the middle school in both directions. The city asked in broad terms for the board’s “go-ahead” to request dedication and to proceed with engineering and construction planning; Scroggins noted a 75-foot right-of-way figure had been used in early concept sketches but asked the board to permit the city to proceed with final plans and all necessary easements.

Board members pressed for details about ownership, jurisdiction and liability. Multiple speakers noted that portions of Battle Creek Way had not been formally adopted into the county maintenance system and that the county highway department had told city engineers it would not adopt the road without action by the county commission. City officials said they were seeking dedication of the road and parkland through the county commission so the city can perform long-term maintenance and traffic enforcement.

Board members asked whether the board’s approval was required. City representatives said the resolutions were a formal way to request the board’s cooperation; no vote by the school board was required at the meeting, but staff-level agreements and an MOU would be necessary. Board members gave staff direction to begin negotiation with the City of Spring Hill and with the county commission; the board’s chair and staff asked the city and the county staff to provide redlined draft language and a bounded right-of-way figure before the next work session so the board can evaluate legal and budgetary implications.

Several board members signaled support for transferring the signal and for the city proceeding with engineering, subject to a written agreement: "We are not in the traffic light business and the sooner that goes away and is in someone else's hands, the happier I am," Board member Moore said. The board did not vote; staff was directed to negotiate an MOU that would specify acreage, any deed restrictions, maintenance responsibilities, and required funding commitments. City staff said the county commission would consider reworded resolutions in October.