Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

A nearly five-year plan by the Tennessee Department of Transportation to widen a section of Hwy. 33 south in Claiborne County is now rolling. The project has been in the talking stages since 2018-19, according to County Mayor Joe Brooks.

The holdup between drafting and beginning the construction phases was due in large part to dickering for the purchase price of properties running along the portion of highway located inside the project plans, Brooks said.

Included in the land purchases was the property housing the Recycling Center taking up one corner of the Hwy. 33 south intersection at England Industrial Road and Lynch Lane.

The estimated $2.49 million project will give workers at the Englands #8 plant easier entrances and exits and smooth out congestion during peak rush hours. The plan calls for widening the roadway for the creation of turn lanes running north and south. Intersection traffic signals will be upgraded as well as other necessary improvements, according to TDOT.

The Rogers Group won the bidding process. The estimated end-date for the project is April 2024.