I have yet to meet anyone who favors this boondoggle who has even read the Draft EIS and suspect no such person will bother to read the Final either.

The minor detail of the road not helping with traffic is too much to absorb, apparently.

And at $160 million? That is why "we" "need" a gas tax?

Here's a good analysis. It's from the draft EIS, but still mostly applies. Scroll down to "purpose and need" section.

(link...)

Also, from the final EIS (pg. 5-2):

Purpose of the Proposed Action and Transportation Needs

The proposed action is intended to address identified transportation needs in the study area. These needs have been identified during the public and agency coordination activities conducted for the project between April 2006 and February 2008, as well as through prior planning efforts and review of current transportation and community plans. The transportation needs are:

• Limited mobility options in Blount County and Maryville because of the county’s primarily radial roadway network.
• Poor local road network with substandard cross sections (with narrow lanes, sharp curves, and insufficient shoulders) in the eastern portion of the county.
• Lack of a northwest/east connection east of Alcoa and Maryville to help serve:
− Expanding residential development occurring in eastern Alcoa and Maryville and northeastern Blount County
− Demand for trips between Maryville and Alcoa and the Knoxville area to the north as shown by current high traffic volumes between the areas on US 129 (approximately 40,090 vehicles per day) and SR 33 (approximately 6,230 vehicles per day)
• Safety issues on roadways in the area, including roads in the Maryville core. People traveling between the north and western portions of the county and the eastern portions of the county
must pass through the Maryville core. Numerous rear-end crashes and angle crashes reported due to high volumes of traffic and lack of access management along the roadways.
• Traffic congestion and poor levels of traffic operation on major arterial roads (in particular US 129, SR 33, and US 411) and intersections in the study area

As you can see from the previously mentioned analysis, a lot of this is bunk.

TDOT's originsl plan was to put in bridges/underpasses, but the local businesses didn't like the idea at the urging of City of Alcoa management. TDOT then came up with the plan for the 3.5 mile bypass. Ridiculous.

I still don't understand why all of Alcoa Hwy can be widened except for this short section. There will be traffic deadlocks at both ends