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Louisville must determine whether it wants a traffic light, which would displace some people, or a roundabout at the busy intersection of Louisville Road, Miser Station Road and Mentor Road.

A public hearing will be held at 6 p.m. Aug. 19, at Louisville Town Hall, 3623 Louisville Road.

A traffic count established that the intersection warranted a traffic light on the state route.

On July 17, representatives of the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) met with Louisville Mayor Geraldine Anderson and Vice Mayor Robert Ghormley, Blount County Highway Superintendent Bill Dunlap, Director of Engineering Tony Abbott and Louisville Planning Commission Chairman John Loope.

TDOT gave the group two choices: a traffic light or roundabout.

"It's a dangerous intersection because of so much traffic," Anderson said. "When Middlesettlements Middle School is in session, I've seen the traffic back up on Miser Station Road across the bridge and around the curve to the school. On Mentor Road it backs up over the hill and on Louisville Road it backs up almost to Topside Road.

"The whole intent of the intersection improvements is to alleviate the problem school traffic causes."

When school is in session, a Blount County Sheriff's Office deputy must direct traffic both morning and afternoon.

With a traffic light, TDOT would install turn lanes in all four directions. The problem with the light is that TDOT would have to cut a nearby hill down four to six feet to get the needed sight distance a traffic light requires. That would require taking part of the Shell Station entrance and the driveways of two or three houses, which would mean the houses would have to be acquired because they are so close to the road, the mayor explained.

With a roundabout, similar to the one at Five Point on West Broadway in Maryville, the intersection could be moved sufficiently so no families would be displaced.

The roundabout would be moved slightly toward Louisville (across Mentor Road from the Shell Station) into the large vacant field owned by Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center and across Louisville Road from the gas station on some property owned by the Scott McClellans, Anderson said.

A roundabout would require more land than a traffic light.

TDOT representatives indicated that, with a roundabout, traffic should flow well if drivers yield, she said. It would have to be big enough that vehicles towing boats, school buses and tractor-trailers could navigate through the intersection without problems.

The fact that several boat ramps are in the area on Fort Loudoun Lake assures that a lot of vehicles towing boats use the intersection,

Anderson said when she found out the light would displace families she decided to hold a public hearing and get comments from the community.

"That's what scared me," Anderson said. "I had no idea they would want to cut that hill down. I would never have thought of that. Most people coming down that hill know they must stop at Louisville Road, so they come down slow."