The final leg of a 51 mile long County Seat Connector highway project for Lewis County faces multiple delays at a high cost.

Significant environmental issues of the 6.56 mile stretch of State Route 166 between Lewis and Maury Counties have delayed development of the project. Springs and seeps in the rocky terrain between the county line and Mount Pleasant are necessitating substantial stream mitigation, a process estimated to postpone road construction two or more years.

Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) Commisisoner Clay Bright, in a letter to Lewis County Clerk Sandra Clayton, no...