Two Pipes Under Central Pike, Nine Hours, and a Detour Around Springdale Elementary
Some of the most important road work in Wilson County is the kind drivers never see once it is finished. Tonight, a state crew will close 2.3 miles of Central Pike in the Mt. Juliet area to swap out two drainage pipes buried under the road, the latest step in a push to deal with flooding along a heavily traveled route.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation will close Central Pike, also known as State Route 265, from John Hagar Road to Earhart Road starting at 8 p.m. Thursday, September 24. The road is scheduled to reopen by 5 a.m. Friday, in time for the morning commute. Like all road work, the job depends on the weather.
Getting around the closure
The detour loops through the two roads that bracket the work zone:
- Westbound drivers can reach Central Pike by taking Earhart Road to John Hagar Road.
- Eastbound drivers can take John Hagar Road to Earhart Road.
- Heading to Chandler Road? Follow the posted detour signs. Through traffic eastbound on Central Pike will not be allowed past Springdale Elementary School.
Neighbors who live on Chandler Road or inside the closure will be waved around the “Road Closed” signs so they can get home.
What is actually happening under the pavement
The crew is replacing two pipe culverts, the large pipes that carry stormwater from one side of the road to the other. When a culvert is too small, damaged or clogged, water that should pass under the road backs up instead, spilling over the pavement and into yards and ditches. Replacing them is unglamorous work, but it is one of the most direct ways to keep a road open during a heavy storm and keep water moving where it is supposed to go.
The overnight schedule is a deliberate choice. Swapping a culvert means digging a trench straight across the roadway, setting the new pipe and rebuilding the pavement above it, which cannot happen with traffic rolling through. Doing it between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. keeps the disruption away from school buses and rush hour.
Part of a bigger drainage picture
Water has been a running theme in Mt. Juliet this month. The city has just hired a firm to inventory and grade its entire stormwater network for the first time, 158 miles of pipe in all. Tonight's work is on a state route, so it is TDOT's job rather than the city's, but it points in the same direction: fixing the hidden plumbing under the roads before the next big rain finds the weak spots.
Central Pike itself is in for more change. The long-planned diverging diamond interchange where Central Pike meets I-40 is moving forward. Tonight's closure is a much smaller job, but for the neighbors who have watched water collect along this stretch, it may matter just as much.
If you drive Central Pike before dawn Friday, allow a few extra minutes for the detour, and slow down near the crews.
