Boring Road proves anything but boring
Boring Road has been closed to through traffic since June.
Town engineer Darryl Smith said the Board is considering four options: keep Boring Road closed; make Boring Road at Kingston Pike a right-in, right-out intersection; reconstruct Boring Road from about 300 feet east of the rear school entrance to Kingston Pike; or take no action for now.
During a workshop before its regular meeting, the Board discussed the options but took no action. Instead, members asked that a public workshop be scheduled to allow more residents, as well as representatives from the Knox County Sheriff’s Office and Knox County Schools, to weigh in.
No date for the public workshop was set at the workshop.
Board members also discussed waiting until after the new school opens in August 2027 to determine how traffic patterns develop.
“Does the school [system] anticipate having a crossing guard like at the other schools to help mitigate traffic problems?” Vice Mayor Greg Wiberley asked.
“I don’t know that for sure,” Town administrator David Smoak replied, adding that he had spoken with the school board representative for Farragut. “Funding for that is problematic, for the Board and the school system.”
Regarding the vehicle load at the new school, Wiberley pointed to backups at Farragut Primary School and asked whether the drop-off loop would be long enough.
“They say it is,”
Smith answered. “I’m not positive.”
“Is there any way to adapt the traffic light system to maximize flow at peak times?” Wiberley asked.
“We will have to adjust the time,” Smith said.
Wiberley also questioned how students would be evacuated in an emergency and whether Boring Road or Smith Road would be used.
“That’s a good question,” Smith replied. “I do not know the answer to that.”
Wiberley said residents in nearby neighborhoods also are concerned about whether emergency vehicles would be able to reach their homes if Boring Road remains closed.
“I’ve contacted [Fire Chief] Jeff Devlin with Rural Metro and Brad Hall with Knox County Sheriff’s [Office],” Smith replied. “Neither of them were very enthusiastic about closing the road, but they both understood the reason behind it. So, I took that as they don’t see it as a big problem.”
His comment elicited numerous coughs from the crowd.
Alderman Joey Ruffalo asked about the traffic impact study conducted when the school was proposed.
Smoak said a traffic impact study was conducted a couple of years ago as part of plans for the new Farragut Area Elementary School north of Ingles Market.
“The traffic impact study did not address additional traffic on Boring Road because the school system thinks that they’re not going to allow parents to drop off kids in the back [along Boring Road],” Smith said. “The [Town] staff disagrees with that because it’s very hard to enforce.”
Ruffalo asked what evidence supported the assumption that parents would use Boring Road to drop off their children.
“That is just observation at the other [primary] school,” Smith answered.
“KCS Board approved preliminary plans in January 2024,” Smith said. KCS broke ground on the school in May 2025 and anticipates opening it in August 2027.
“We received the traffic impact study from KCS in July 2024. We expressed concerns over the increased traffic on Kingston Pike, Smith Road and Boring Road.
“It’s important to make the point here that the Town has very limited authority to influence Knox County Schools’ plans,” Smith said. “They are their own entity … they are not within our jurisdiction.”
However, KCS agreed to add length and width to the vehicle queuing loop, remove a portion of the median on Village Commons Boulevard to increase the queue lane and improve about 800 feet of Boring Road.
“All told, there are 4,765 linear feet of drop-off queue width there,” Smith said.
Staff and buses will enter and leave the school using Smith Road then to Kingston Pike.
Boring Road between the school and Kingston Pike is designated “to be improved.” Smith said the road is only 14 feet wide and drivers do not have an adequate line of sight to turn onto Kingston Pike.
“A left turn is virtually impossible during peak hours,” Smith said. “You really can’t put a school in a location like this without adding traffic to an already congested corridor.
“We’re expecting issues on Kingston Pike, Smith Road and Boring Road,” he added.
To help mitigate some of that traffic, Smith said the Town plans to construct an access road from Sugarwood Drive to the CVS Pharmacy entrance.
“We’re putting a four-way stop at the intersection of Smith Road and Boring Road and a crosswalk with beacons at the back of Country Manor subdivision, where the greenway intersects with Boring Road,” he said.
