03/24/2026
🚩Mayor John Smith and the Town of Selmer Board of Aldermen want to address a major concern we have been hearing from many of our residents and business owners: the condition of our roads.
There has been understandable confusion about which roads are the responsibility of the Town of Selmer and which are actually under the responsibility of the Tennessee Department of Transportation. Some of the most heavily traveled roads in and through Selmer are state routes, which means the Town does not have full authority to permanently repair or resurface them.
After months of discussion, we were and still are encouraged that the stretch from the main Highway 45/64 intersection toward Eastview is expected to begin around May of this year.
However, we also want to be fully transparent with the public: the main stretch through town from the main intersection to the North Y is not scheduled to be done in the near future and, at this time, is not on TDOT’s list to be resurfaced.
Additional discussion was had with TDOT, and unfortunately there did not appear to be a real understanding of just how serious the condition of this section has become for our community.
In the meantime, the Town of Selmer Street and Sanitation Department has been working hard in an uphill battle to fill and patch as many holes as quickly as possible using the only available temporary option right now: cold patch asphalt. That fix is exactly that... temporary. Recent weather events, including Winter Storm Fern, along with ice and extreme cold, have negatively impacted those patches and caused even more road damage.
This issue is costing the Town, our taxpayers, residents, and businesses. It affects vehicle safety, damages personal and municipal equipment, increases ongoing patch costs, and can discourage business growth and investment.
⚠️Please know this:
We are NOT letting this go!⚠️
We will continue pressing for TDOT to take this stretch of roadway more seriously and to move it higher on their priority list sooner rather than later.
But we also need the public’s help.
🗣We are asking our community to come together and make your voices heard.
️Please call, email, and respectfully contact TDOT to let them know this roadway needs immediate attention.
️Region 4 TDOT contacts:
🔸️️Director/Assistant Chief Engineer: Jason Baker, P.E.
☎️ (731) 935-0193
📧 [email protected]
🔸Director of Project Development: ️Brandon Akins ☎️(731) 935-0304
🔸Director of Preconstruction:️ Gary Scruggs
☎️(731) 935-0149
📧[email protected]
🔸️️Director of Operations: Shawna Smith, P.E.
☎️(731) 431-6430
📧[email protected]
🔸Traffic: ️Jason MoodyTraffic
☎️(731) 935-0285
🔸️️Community Relations: Nichole Lawrence
☎️(731) 935-0318
📧[email protected]
️Region 4 Headquarters
📍300 Benchmark Place, Jackson, TN 38301
☎️Main number (731) 935-0100.
🧡Let’s come together as one community and push for action. Selmer deserves better roads!
