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 this Friday (Aug. 2, 2019) at the Faulkinberry Drive entrance.

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.

Although a 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 the Spring of 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 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.

FUNDING:

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.