A city reeling from rapid growth to its south is bracing for the possibilities east of town.
The proposed Golden Bear Gateway in Mt. Juliet will connect the Beckwith Road interchange at Interstate 40 with Lebanon Road to the north. It is expected to open up hundreds of acres of unspoiled land to residential and commercial development, and could even provide a home for a massive corporate campus.
The road will connect to the interstate one of Middle Tennessee’s largest undeveloped tracts of land.
“This will be a game changer,” said Mt. Juliet City Manager Randy Robertson. “This is going to provide unfettered and easy access on this eastern side of the city. All of that land becomes highly desirable.”
The old Baltz farm is about 600 acres and is already connected to water, sewer, electricity and the railroad, Wilson County Joint Economic and Community Development Board Director G.C. Hixon said. Road access is the missing piece. With that in place, a company could build a corporate campus or clean manufacturing facility there.
10 tracts along route
“A project for someone who wants to be there and sees the potential is still 18 months from getting a road built,” Hixson said. “Once you do that there are some possibilities there. The market drives it.”
The $18.4 million, five-lane road will begin its acquisition phase this year, said Cajun Joyner, assistant public works director for Mt. Juliet. Of the total cost, the city will be responsible for about $3.7 million through 2013, with the federal government to pay the remaining $14.7 million. Mt. Juliet will have to acquire right of way from about 10 properties along the proposed path, which crosses Rutland Road and East Division Street before hooking right and taking a straight path north to Lebanon Road and Benders Ferry Road.
While most of the land, including the Baltz farm, is zoned for agricultural uses, the land use plan for the area calls for residential, commercial and office space. Developers are already making plans at the connector’s southern point.
Bel Air, a nearby development in the conceptual stages, would allow up to 1 million square feet in commercial space and 1,000 to 1,500 homes. No site plans have been submitted, but the zoning is in place, Hixson said. In addition, Browning Companies, a Brentwood-based developer, holds about 270 acres at the southwest corner of the interchange, where Summit Medical Center plans to anchor a 45,000-square-foot office building.
Mt. Juliet Road
Another expected benefit of the Golden Bear Gateway is possible traffic relief along Mt. Juliet Road, which will be widened to five lanes by fall and is already near the amount of traffic it was designed to handle, Joyner said.
Traffic flow should be smoother on Golden Bear Gateway. The city will require at least 800 feet between each access point, he said.
“We don’t want something like a Gallatin Road that has so many access points it inhibits the traffic flow,” Joyner said.
A portion of the road around Mt. Juliet High School was recently completed. The “reverse L” portion — located where Curd Road makes a 90-degree turn toward Mt. Juliet Road for traffic heading away from the school — is expected to make travel to and from the new school safer.
Hixson said the proximity to the new high school would increase the desirability of the land to developers.
Joyner said the overall connector project was well received in public meetings to discuss the effect on nearby property owners.
“There was no real feeling of having a problem with the project in any way,” he said.
