Good Evening Chairman and Commissioners,

I represent Citizens for Old Natchez Trace as we continue to advocate for the welfare and protection of the Old Natchez Trace.

I encourage you to take a ride on Sneed Road near the turn onto the Old Natchez Trace. New signage in the continued citizen push back to the mega density Stephens Valley subdivision has been erected. I am very proud of our community’s perseverance in speaking out about the damage being caused to our historic rural landscape by the avarice of this development.

Some of the signage deals with citizens requests for weight limits on this historic road. One reads, “Built by soldiers in 1801, by order of President Thomas Jefferson, Now…40 ton dump trucks with their wide wheel base, are crumbling the edges of the Old Natchez Trace.” Another states, “Travel the beautiful Old Natchez Trace, The lazy Harpeth shows her grace, Where dump trucks with their heavy load, Sometimes run you off the road.”

I have gone several times to the highway commission meetings with this issue. Our commissioner, Matt Williams, asked the attorney for the highway commission why the county cannot put weight limits on its county roads. Mr. Cook stated in his letter to Commissioner Williams, and I quote, “The weight limits must be reasonable and based on information supporting the lower weight limit. For this reason an engineer’s report needs to be conducted to determine whether the weight limits on a county road need to be reduced and if so, determine a reasonable weight limitation.

At the last highway commission I attended, Chad Collier, the county engineer, was asked about the roadbed on the Old Natchez Trace and he said that it was great and you could set a firecracker off on it. I honestly don’t know what that means but I doubt a firecracker weighing 40 tons going off daily would not cause some kind of damage.

In many areas, applying a weight limit to a road is often done to protect the character and environment of rural areas. Restricting overweight freights prevents potholes, cracks in the road and crumbling edges which is what is happening on the Old Natchez Trace. There are also environmental and historic reasons such a wanting to prevent heavy traffic from travelling through historically significant areas.

To that end, I have contacted Rep. Brandon Ogles to introduce legislation in the next legislative session to provide protections for Tennessee’s historic, scenic, culturally significant and environmentally sensitive rural roads. If the county won’t protect its unique historic resources, I hope and pray the state will.

Thank you.