With New Schools and Growth on The Horizon, Smyrna Wants an I-24 Interchange at Rocky Fork

SMYRNA, TN — Smyrna officials are pushing once again for the much-anticipated third interchange on Interstate 24, but first the town will have to upgrade its busiest road.

Smyrna is asking the Tennessee Department of Transportation to add an interchange from the interstate at Rocky Fork Road, where Rutherford County Schools plans to open a new middle school next August and a new elementary school the August after. But, town council members say, TDOT won't approve the new exit unless Sam Ridley Parkway is updated.

"We have about eight to 10 projects just over $13 million in the pipeline as far as road improvements going on," Smyrna Town Council member Tim Morrell told the Daily News Journal. "Our large focus is getting the interchange at Rocky Fork. In order to do that, we have to follow the TDOT mandate to improve Sam Ridley Parkway."

Among those improvements will be better-timed traffic lights and a widening of StoneCrest Boulevard at its intersection with Sam Ridley, according to the newspaper. Plus, the council is pursuing funding for a $6.5 million extension of Enon Springs Road from Old Nashville Highway through to Rocky Fork near the coveted interstate interchange.

Those better-timed traffic lights will come through the implementation of an Intelligent Transportation System, which will allow monitoring — for traffic, not for law enforcement — 48 of Smyrna's 49 traffic signals.

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