State Route 73 (US 321) East Parkway

Overview

The widening of State Route 73 (US 321/East Parkway), from Glades Road to State Route 416 in Gatlinburg, was designed in two phases. Phase I, from Glades Road to Buckhorn Road, was completed in 2006. Phase II, from Buckhorn Road to East of State Route 416, is not yet constructed. The public desired greater input in Phase II design, so TDOT announced in 2005 that this phase would be developed with a Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS) process. In the CSS process, improvements are designed to be sensitive to the context of the different land uses along the corridor, often with the input of local stakeholders.

A Community-Based Resource Team (CBRT) was assembled to work with TDOT to create a proposed improvement concept. The developed template includes wide, undisturbed, naturally landscaped medians with sidewalks and trails connecting the community with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP).

The public and agency input was incorporated into the state-funded draft Tennessee Environmental Evaluation Report (TEER). Currently, the project has funding to complete the environmental document.