Cumberland Avenue Corridor Project Gets Underway
Tuesday, April 7th, 2015
By: Steve Goldman, CCIM
The City of Knoxville’s rendering of the Cumberland Avenue Corridor Plan
The renovation of Cumberland Ave., one of Knoxville’s best-known thoroughfares, has been in the news this week as the Cumberland Avenue Corridor Project gets underway.
Utility Phase 1 work began on The Strip yesterday at the intersection of University and 22nd. From April 6 – June 6, 2015, two lanes will be closed between W. Volunteer Blvd. and 22nd St., to allow crews to work on utility lines for the redesign project.
The heavily traveled road is currently four-lanes without a turn lane. This project puts the road on a “diet, which includes reducing Cumberland Ave. from four travel lanes to three lanes, one of which would be a dedicated turn lane. This would allow for wider sidewalks and improved pedestrian spaces.”
The Daily Beacon, UT Knoxville’s student-run paper, reported today that Anne Wallace, Cumberland Ave. Project Manager, answered questions about the project at a meeting Friday night at the UT Visitor Center.
“The key to all of this is to plot a course for a more attractive, economically successful and vibrant Cumberland Avenue,” Wallace said.
The project, which is scheduled for completion by Aug. 31, 2017, at a cost of $16.87 million, will include rezoning to allow a mix of residential, office and commercial properties in one parcel. Phase 1 will focus on improvements from Cumberland Ave. to Alcoa Hwy. Phase II includes improvements to Cumberland Ave. from 22nd St. to west of 16th St.
Stay up-to-date on road closures and construction at CumberlandConnect.com, where you can connect with the project on Facebook, Twitter and the site’s blog. Merchant specials become available April 15, and an app to track the process will be available for download from the site beginning on April 30.
For more information, check out the Project Overview.
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