Road Project Could Condemn Franklin Homes

FRANKLIN, Tenn. -- A Franklin road project that has been dormant for years may cost some families their homes when it starts again.

Video: Parkway Extension To Condemn Franklin Homes

The Mack Hatcher Parkway extension will complete the parkway’s circle around Franklin. The extension will continue the circle from Columbia Pike northwest and north, where it will join up with Hillsboro Road.

When the project starts up again, it means that 17 families in the Rebel Meadows subdivision will be uprooted to make way for the highway.

"We were hoping that maybe it wouldn’t happen for another couple of years," said Amy Pendoey, whose family lives in Rebel Meadows.

"They’ve known for many years that their land, their home, was going to be in a right of way and would need to be acquired," said Franklin Mayor John Schroer.

Schroer said after years of waiting on the state to move on the project, the city is ready to take the lead. Officials said the extension would alleviate a lot of traffic woes in the city.

"We have the ability to fund this only if the state would agree to pay us back. There’s just so much traffic on the west side of town that we’ve got to do something," he said.

The Pendoeys bought their home last year with the knowledge that their land and home were marked.

"It seems like a family-oriented area. We, you know, came from California, so moving here to Tennessee, that’s actually one of the things that we enjoy," Pendoey said.

Pendoey said the family has no plans to move.

"We're hoping they’ll say we’ve got another 10 or 20 years before we have to move out of this home. We are very hopeful," she said.

The project is expected to cost between $50 million and $60 million. Gov. Phil Bredesen still has to approve Franklin’s proposal to the state to pay the city back.

An environmental study still has to be completed before the city can start moving forward with buying land from homeowners.