Update given on new Interstate 69 in West Tennessee

UNION CITY, Tenn. — There is an update on a road construction project that could impact West Tennessee.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation’s Community Relations Officer, Nichole Lawrence, spoke on Wednesday about the status of Interstate 69.

This future interstate in western Obion County is a vertical interstate that will connect US 51 and State Route 5 in Tennessee, around Union City.

The project is estimated to cost taxpayers approximately $100 million.

“Future I-69 is just that, it’s future interstate connectivity from, you know, Canada down to New Mexico. And this is just part of that commitment that Tennessee has gone forward with and has been able to deliver,” Lawrence said.

Lawrence says the project is mostly on schedule. However, due to plenty of variables, they may be a little behind.

Some of these variables are simple things, like cold winters, wet spring, and equipment breaking down. However, these complications are minor and have not really slowed the project down by much.

“I was going to say several years ago, they completed the grating, the building and the grading up to the groundwork up to the area around Discovery Park, four or five years ago. I’m going to say four or five years we’ve been in, you know, the works of building those next two sections around Union City,” Lawrence said.

Some of the benefits of a new interstate, according to Lawrence, is its ability to create economic development in an area and connect drivers with a better route to travel.

“When we build new roads and new alignments, it creates economic growth, it creates tourism, and especially in these communities, it’s growth for them,” Lawrence said.

Lawrence said that the future I-69 should be completed later this year.

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