LOCAL NEWS —Metro Mayor Bonnie Lewis just happened to be with a state transportation official last November when he noticed that the traffic lights notifying drivers of a school zone in front of MCHS on Highway 55 were barely visible.

“There’s a transportation grant to help with that,” he told her. “But I’m pretty sure the deadline is today.”

Later that day, Mayor Lewis sat in a doctor’s office parking lot applying for the grant on her mobile phone. Five months later, TDOT awarded Metro Moore County a $31,000 grant to install new traffic signals at the high school.

“I’m pretty sure we had some of the oldest lights in that state,” Mayor Lewis told the Metro Council on Monday. “And their visibility is pretty bad.”

The Traffic Signal Modernization Program (TSMP) grant is a pilot program designed to help Tennessee counties to modernize existing traffic signal equipment, upkeep, and operations. The state funds 100 percent of the TSMP and gave away a total of $250,000. Metro Moore received the highest individual grant.

According to state officials, the goals of the grant include reducing traffic accidents, traffic congestion, improve visibility, save energy, reduce maintenance costs, as well as automate the collection of traffic count data.

According to Mayor Lewis, the state will begin work on the new lights at the same time state officials add a turning lane at the high school. •

{The Lynchburg Times is an independently owned and operated newspaper that publishes new stories every morning. Covering Metro Moore County government, Jack Daniel’s Distillery, Nearest Green Distillery, Tims Ford State Park, Motlow State Community College, Moore County High School, Moore County Middle School, Lynchburg Elementary, Raider Sports, plus regional and state news.}