By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.–Officials with the city of Paris and TLM & Associates laid out the plans for the coming Downtown Signalization Project at two community information sessions Monday. They discussed the major traffic signal upgrades that are coming to the downtown and walked everyone through the project scope, timeline and how it will impact drivers and pedestrians alike.
In attendance at the noon session were nine members of the public, while four attended the evening session. Both sessions shared the same details, with City Mayor Kathy Ray, Commissioners Sam Tharpe, Vickey Roberts, and Police Chief Ricky Watson also in attendance. The four in attendance at the evening session all work downtown.
Both City Manager Kim Foster and Civil Engineer Bob Safin said the plans have been developed over a period of time and the first bids will be opened tomorrow. “We’ve had numerous meetings to get input and we’ve tried to address everything we can in the project,” Safin said.
Foster and Safin explained that both federal and state highways are involved, which has complicated and lengthened the process. “Our downtown intersections are on federal or state highways and that has restricted what we can do,” Safin said.
“We’re past the point of being able to tweak the plan anymore,” Foster said, noting the purpose of the information sessions was to present the plans that have been developed.
Both Safin and Foster said during work on the project, there never will be more than one corner of an intersection being worked on at any one time.
Displaying drawings of what the project will look like, they said the intersections will have safety features such as “bump outs” or curb extensions, which will extend the curb and sidewalk, thus narrowing the street and creating more pedestrian space. The bump outs will be designed with grass and are designed to slow vehicles, improve visibility for pedestrians and reduce the distance it takes to cross the streets.
“We may lose two or three parking spaces,” Foster said, “but it will be worthwhile to increase safety.”
Distracted driving has become a bigger and bigger problem, she said, prompting more safety features for pedestrians. But, she said, “everyone will still need to do their due diligence” including pedestrians and drivers alike.
The Paris downtown is congested and narrow since it was designed in the ‘horse and buggy’ days and accomodation has to be made now for modern vehicles and driving.
Commissioner Tharpe said there will be training sessions for downtown employees once the project is complete “so everyone is on the same page.”
With the project starting probably in September, it should be finished in February 2026. Learn more and sign up for email updates here: https://paristn.gov/downtown-signalization-project-info…/
Photo: Engineer Bob Safin points out coming changes to the downtown, while Kim Foster looks on. Shannon McFarlin photo.