COMPLETE STREETS STUDY

With the help of local governments and consultants from Gresham, Smith & Partners, the TPO is in the midst of a Complete Streets Study. The study will make recommendations for how to make two Knoxville area corridors safer for all users, including drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists and transit riders.

So what are Complete Streets? Here’s a definition from the Complete the Streets Coalition.

“Complete Streets are designed and operated to enable safe access for all users. Pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and bus riders of all ages and abilities are able to safely move along and across a complete street.”

The TPO’s Complete Streets Study will examine two auto-oriented corridors in the region to come up with recommendations for how to make them Complete Streets. The study will also produce a guide to retrofitting other corridors into Complete Streets. The two corridors being studied are:

• North Broadway/U.S. 441/State Road 33 from Old Broadway (just north if I-640) to Colonial Circle in the Fountain City neighborhood of Knoxville.
• Washington Street/South Hall Road/State Road 35 from Lamar Alexander Parkway to Lincoln Road in Maryville and Alcoa.

The full Scope of Services for this study is available in the resources section on the left side of this page.

The study consultants have made two presentations on Complete Streets to local members of the design community. The first of these was a workshop for engineers and planners on the basics of Complete Streets and some of the design concepts used to create them. The second was a workshop for appointed planning commissioners from around the region. You can find links to those presentations in the Resources section on the left side of this page. They are large PDF files, so it’s best to download the files before viewing them. (To download the files, right-click on the link, click “save target as,” then select a destination for the file.)

Two slideshows that describe the existing conditions on the two corridors are also available in the resources section.

Knoxville/Fountain City Corridor Process
The final draft report of recommendations for the Broadway corridor in Fountain City is now available. They are large PDF files, so it’s best to download them before viewing. (To download a file, right-click on the link, select “save target as,” then choose a destination for the file.)

Please share comments on the draft with Ellen Zavisca by calling 215-3818 or sending e-mail to ellen.zavisca@knoxtrans.org.

The two public input workshops for the Fountain City corridor in Knoxville took place on Oct. 20 and 23.

The Knoxville corridor workshops resulted in a set of suggested strategies that participants at the second workshop were able to rank. You can learn more about these strategies by clicking the links below. (Please note that some of these strategies will require more study before implementation is possible to fully determine the impacts on safety and traffic flow. The potential for using these strategies will also depend on what type of funding is available for construction.)

• The overview of suggested strategies defines each strategy, describes its potential impact on pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users and drivers, and provides a price range to implement them.
• For more information on the following topics, use the links below
  • where marked crosswalks, pedestrian indications and mid-block islands might be used
  • locations where spot sidewalks might be installed
  • recommendations for how bike lanes could be added to the corridor
  • recommended transit stop locations and designs
  • recommended locations for potential intersection improvements that go beyond the addition of marked crosswalks and pedestrian indications
  • information on where spot streetscape and spot access management are recommended
  • images of a long-term vision for the corridor

 

Maryville/Alcoa Corridor Process
The final draft report for this corridor is now available. The report has some large graphics, so it has been divided up for faster downloads. They are still large PDF files, so it’s best to download the files before viewing. (To download a file, right-click on the link, click “save target as,” then select a destination for the file.)

Please share any comments on the draft with Ellen Zavisca by calling 215-3818 or sending e-mail to ellen.zavisca@knoxtrans.org. Comments on the draft are due April 8.

Two public workshops on the Alcoa/Maryville corridor took place on Nov. 10 and Nov. 13. They were hosted by the Center for Strong Communities at Maryville College.

The workshops resulted in a set of suggested strategies that participants were able to rank at the second workshop. You can learn more about these strategies by clicking the links below. (Please note that some of these strategies will require more study before implementation is possible to fully determine the impacts on safety and traffic flow. The potential for using these strategies will also depend on what type of funding is available for construction.)

The overview of suggested strategies defines each strategy, describes its potential impact on pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users and drivers, and provides a price range to implement them.

For more information on the following topics, use the links below:

• where intersection crossing enhancements (such as marked crosswalks and pedestrian indication) and mid-block islands and curb extensions might be used
• locations where sidewalk links and bike lanes and routes might be installed. These bicycle improvements would help create a system of bike facilities designed to serve cyclists of different abilities. In general, “A” cyclists are skilled commuter or recreational cyclists, “B” cyclists are less experienced adult riders, and “C” cyclists are children.
• recommended locations for intersection improvements that go beyond the addition of marked crosswalks and pedestrian indications. More details on the elements of those suggested intersection improvements may be found in the intersection improvements matrix part 1 and the intersection improvements matrix part 2.
• information on where spot streetscape, spot access management, or road diet strategies could be used can be found in the streetscape improvements part 1 and streetscape improvements part 2 files.

For more information or to provide comments on the Complete Streets Study, contact Ellen Zavisca at ellen.zavisca@knoxtrans.org or 215-3818.