A sudden influx of 30,000-plus into a community can be a great bonus. It also can cause problems.

And that’s just what has happened in Clarksville and the surrounding area when the 101st Airborne and other units at Fort Campbell – gone for multiple deployments in the Iraq and Afghan wars – began rotating home for what national leaders are calling an extended stay.

“Always when this many troops come back, the first thing you see is a tremendous increase in traffic. We get bottlenecks and the infrastructure problem in that the roads are not what they should be,” says Tom Denney, retired garrison commander who is active in business and in helping secure the ties between the military and civilian communities.

He doesn’t blame anyone, noting government officials are working hard to upgrade the roads and bridges in the community, making many of the roadways four lanes to accommodate the flow of traffic.

Clarksville Mayor Kim McMillan knows this is just something that must take time and upgrading of roads and bridges has been ongoing.

“When you have the kind of influx of people you didn’t have that were deployed and they are back, there are more cars on the streets and more traffic that has to be dealt with.

“We do a good job in Clarksville. Fort Campbell has been here so long, we’ve adjusted very well over the course of the years that we are able to adjust to extra traffic and extra law enforcement that’s necessary.”

And law enforcement does, in fact, have to adjust, according to Officer Jim Knoll, public information officer for the Clarksville Police Department.

“We don’t specifically track the military, don’t check accidents by the military,” he says. “Whether it’s traffic accidents or other types of issues, any time you get an influx of people back in, you are going to have more traffic accidents and increases in domestic situations.”

Knoll says there are no specific numbers available as to military versus non-military. What he does know is that when an extra 30,000 GIs and families add their cars and personal woes to those already existing in a city, there is going to be a natural increase.

And enforcement isn’t necessarily targeted to the point where there always are more cops patrolling The Boulevard that passes Fort Campbell’s main gates and leads not just into Clarksville but also up into soldier-rich Oak Grove and Hopkinsville, Ky.

“We track where the highest amount of accidents and the highest amount of crime is, and we allocate resources where we need to,” Knoll says.

But there is other strain, as well. Even though Oak Grove and Hopkinsville have thriving and growing military and retiree communities, McMillan says the largest numbers are in Clarksville.

“It affects our school system. And when soldiers are deployed, it doesn’t necessarily lessen the burden because so many are staying here,” she says.

There is an aggressive city-county school building plan ongoing, according to chamber boss Chavez. “You’ve got new campuses opened already and already they are full.”

He does see another huge problem facing local residents and business owners.

“There are more cars on the road and longer waits for tables at restaurants,” Chavez says.

“How blessed are we to have these problems that sometimes people complain about when other communities are dying on the vine right now.”