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Planning commission declines to recommend revised Racetrack traffic-signal plan after safety and corridor concerns
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Summary
The commission heard competing technical and business arguments over a proposed change to off-site signalization on Highway 72, accepted an applicant presentation and a Waggles letter offering corridor-study funding, but voted against recommending the amendment to city council, citing queuing and corridor-timing concerns.
Taylor Forrester, representing applicant Racetrack Incorporated, told the Loudon Regional Planning Commission the requested amendment replaces an earlier split, multi-signal configuration with a single signal and reworked turn lanes on Highway 72 to improve safety and level of service. “We submit that this is a positive improvement to this stretch of this commercial corridor,” Forrester said, describing modeling that raised the level-of-service grade at key driveways from E/D to C.
Melissa Clark, real estate director for Wigles Incorporated, said Wigles remains concerned that queued vehicles could back into their site and that staff’s queued-length estimates undercounted real dimensions. “I do not feel like our queue ... has been evaluated to the length that it needs to be evaluated,” Clark said and handed a written offer to fund a corridor study, which she said would examine the broader interstate-to-industrial-park corridor rather than a single intersection.
Staff and third-party reviewers said the traffic model supports the proposed signal and turn-lane geometry but flagged potential coordination and driver-behavior problems if the new signal runs on a shorter cycle than nearby intersections. Andrew Sonder, a WSP reviewer, cautioned that cycle-length differences could increase queuing: “If you look at the corridor as a whole and you’re looking at a 90-second cycle length elsewhere, then you’ve got to have that same cycle length here, which means you’re going to have more time and potentially more queuing.”
Commissioners debated timing and scale: some urged a full corridor study before recommending approval; others argued waiting for a multi-year study would prevent needed safety improvements and delay an on-permitted development. After discussion, a commissioner moved to recommend approval and another seconded; the roll-call recommendation failed 5–2 (three members absent). Recorded votes: Brandon DeVore and Tim Dixon voted yes; Dennis Brennan, Clayton Pankle, Kevin Bookout, Pam Carey and Abigail Allphouse voted no; Dan Hamley, David Mears and Scott Wilson were absent. The commission’s no recommendation means the amended off-site plan will go to city council without a positive Planning Commission recommendation.
Next steps: the item will be considered by Loudon City Council for final action and any corridor study or timing changes would be determined by staff, TDOT coordination and council direction.
