Aug 2 opening ceremony for Middle Tennessee Boulevard

The City of Murfreesboro and Middle Tennessee State University officials will gather to celebrate enhancements to Middle Tennessee Boulevard. The opening ceremony will be held Friday, Aug. 2, 2019 at the Faulkinberry Drive entrance.

Who: City of Murfreesboro and Middle Tennessee State University; City Development Services and Public Works divisions along with City Transportation Department administrators, City elected officers and MTSU officials, including Mayor Shane McFarland and MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee.

What: Officials celebrate enhancements to Middle Tennessee Boulevard along the MTSU campus.

When: 10:00 a.m. Friday, Aug. 2, 2019.

Where: Faulkinberry Drive Entrance
Middle Tennessee Blvd. & Faulkinberry Dr.
MTSU Campus
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, 37130

Although the Nashville contractor remains responsible for maintenance of the roadway at this time, the City stepped in to remediate the median landscaping. Construction on the upgrade began in December 2016 with final paving completed in Spring 2019. With the MT Boulevard improvement project completed, the following changes improve traffic flow along the thoroughfare:

• Traffic flow on Faulkinberry Drive changes to “right turn in, right turn out” onto Middle Tennessee Boulevard.
  A pull-in area for buses has been added to the front of Murphy Center.
• Signalized pedestrian crossings have been added at Lytle and Division streets, and crosswalks at Bell Street and Faulkinberry Drive upgraded.
• Brick walls with planned MTSU signage have been erected at the corners of Greenland Drive, and another wall added at East Main Street, to better define the entry onto campus.
• Flagpoles are erected at Faulkinberry Drive.

The $18.2 million road improvement project upgraded the 0.8-mile section of Middle Tennessee Boulevard from four and five lanes to a consistent four-lane divided street with a landscaped median between East Main and Greenland Drive. The enhancement includes new bike lanes, improved sidewalks and lighting, new traffic signals, decorative crosswalks, landscaping, and underground utilities. The enhancement also installed underground utilities, a new box culvert at the Lytle Street intersection, and grading throughout.

The federal government provided $5.8 million in High Priority Projects (HPP) funds and $1.2 million in Congestion Mitigation Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ) funds; the City $6.2 million (including Surface Transportation Program (STP) federal funding); and MTSU $5 million for the total $18.2 million project cost.