Neighborhood Assn. not thrilled about new MTSU entrance - WSMV Channel 4
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Starting this fall students at Middle Tennessee State University will have a new entrance to get on and off campus. But that's not sitting well with folks in a nearby neighborhood who feel their quality of life is about to change.
The new entrance to the MTSU campus off Greenland Drive has already opened, but folks who live across the street in the Scottland Acres subdivision are worried about what's to come.
"With this new entrance to the college it's just going to be an easy thoroughfare to cut through," Scottland Acres Neighborhood Association President Bill Patterson said.
The Neighborhood Association is concerned that thousands of students will use their neighborhood as a shortcut to get to Hanover Drive in order to bypass traffic.
"It's making life that much harder for the people of Scottland Acres," Patterson said.
Association members are not too fond of the traffic light either.
"(This) is not what we really wanted," Patterson said.
Home owners said traffic on Greenland Drive is already bad in the morning and the afternoon when the public schools are in session, that's because students who attend nearby Discovery School have to carpool. Buses don't drop off students because it is a choice school.
Their solution - close Hanover Drive and make it a dead end.
MTSU officials said city leaders had them conduct a traffic study before the new entrance was approved. The study determined because of the high volume of traffic, it was recommended that Hanover be closed.
"We were given the green light for the entrance, but as far as Hanover Street being closed, that is a city decision, it's up to City Hall at this point," MTSU News & Public Affairs Director Jimmy Hart said.
"Once traffic picks back up and settles back out, the city will consider the possibility of doing another traffic count and go from there to see if closing the street is warranted or not," Murfreesboro city spokesman Chris Shofner said.
Residents are also worried about folks speeding through the neighborhood with children playing outside. They just want Scottland Acres to be the quiet, peaceful neighborhood it once was.
"It is the quality of life that has made Scottland Acres desirable, and we want to keep it that way," Patterson said.
The Scottland Acres Neighborhood Association tried once before to get Hanover Drive closed when a developer built a new apartment building, but their efforts were unsuccessful.
City officials are also concerned about emergency vehicles having access to Hanover Street. Residents have suggested putting up a gate with an access code for police and fire calls.
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