October 16th Update

The notes from the October 1st Ft. Sanders Long Range Planning Committee meeting are posted in the Links section of this page. In follow up to the discussion at this meeting, City Staff, UT Representatives and Knoxville Area Transit (KAT) met to discuss concerns regarding the signal at Metron Center Way. A brief summary of that meeting is available in the notes. Additionally, the notes from the September 3rd Quality of Life Subcommittee meeting are also posted and were handed out at the last full commitee meeting.

City staff attended the Transportation Planning Organizations Technical Committee meeting on Tuesday, October 13th. A couple of items of interest were presented at that meeting: 1) The Federal Government's recission of funds for the Federal Highway Administration on October 1st will have a local impact because of the reduction in TDOT and TPO funding. A specific impact to Ft. Sanders is that the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) funding that was requested for sidewalks and bus shelters in the neighborhood will not be available this fiscal year. 2) Some reduction to the Surface Transportation Program (STP) funds will occur, but project funding is decided at the local level. If you have any questions regarding this information feel free to contact me at awallace@cityofknoxville.org.

Finally, a City Council Workshop was held last night to discuss the Downtown Wayfinding Project. This project is anticipated to be the starting point for future wayfinding efforts in Knoxville's core neighborhoods. The consultants, Merje Design, out of Philadelphia have started design development based on several stakeholder meetings and two public meetings. This information was presented to Council and the public last night. The consensus from the workshop was that the general design concepts were reflective of downtown Knoxville and that a few relatively minor tweaks would have the design in great shape. If you'd like more information on this project please visit: www.cityofknoxville.org/wayfinding.