Friday, June 25, 2010

June 25th Update

The Cumberland Ave. Streetscape Team (city staff and consultants) met for a utility coordination meeting this week with several representatives from the Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) and Comcast Cable. This meeting identified multiple options regarding the overhead electric lines along Cumberland Ave. These options need additional research regarding time and cost impacts for the project that will lead to future decision points. Additional utilities such as gas, water and waste water lines were also discussed.

Also KUB just released this information regarding Tyson Park:
For more information, contact: KUB Community Relations - 865-594-7988

KUB and its contractor will conduct testing on wastewater pipelines to facilitate future upgrades to the system in Tyson Park from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. beginning Monday, June 28 and lasting through Friday, July 2. This work will take place near the tennis courts between Third Creek and the bike trail.

Other than using the bike trail and greenway briefly for transportation of contractor equipment, this work will not affect access to the Third Creek Greenway, tennis courts, and other facilities within the park. In addition, area traffic and parking will not be affected.

Appropriate safety barriers will be in place to designate the immediate work area. While the roadway, greenway, and access to all facilities will remain open, park visitors and commuters are advised to use caution in the area due to the presence of workers and equipment.

This work is weather permitting.

I hope everyone is enjoying the first full week of summer! Have a great and safe weekend.

Friday, June 18, 2010

June 18th Update

In follow up to the City's postponement of the Ft. Sanders Neighborhood Plan at MPC last week, City and MPC/TPO staff met on Thursday, June 17th with property owners who had expressed concerns regarding the document.

It was a productive meeting with an overview of the process that has occured to date and the goals of the plan. Owners were able to understand that while this was not a rezoning of property that plans are the basis of future land use. Some of the owners noted that it was important that the institutions in the area had participated in the process. The conclusion of the meeting was that the City would request an additional 30 day postponement (to the August 12th MPC meeting) so that these owners have plenty of time to digest the information included in the plan and then get back together with staff to ask any questions that they might have or make suggestions on ways to improve the document. If there are any substative changes identified through this process we will reconvene the full Ft. Sanders Stakeholder Committee prior to sending the document to MPC for consideration.

Next week City staff and the Cumberland Ave. consultants will be meeting with various utilities regarding the streetscape plan and options for removing the overhead utility lines. We'll keep you posted on the outcome of that meeting. As always, thanks for your continued interest and have a safe and fun weekend!

Friday, June 11, 2010

June 11th Update

It has been a busy week here! On Monday, City staff met with our consultants on the Cumberland Ave. Streetscape Project and officially kicked off our detailed design process. One of the first steps to this process will be a utility coordination meeting that will help the City understand the options and costs associated with removing the overhead utility lines from Cumberland Ave. This meeting will occur before the end of the month and we'll keep you posted as details emerge.

As promised last week, the meeting minutes from the Ft. Sanders Stakeholder Quarterly Meeting are now posted under the links section on the right hand side of this page. Feel free to contact me at awallace@cityofknoxville.org if you have any questions or corrections.

On Thursday, the final draft of the Ft. Sanders Neighborhood District Long Range Planning Implementation Strategy was scheduled to be heard at the regular monthly meeting of the Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC). However, we were contacted Thursday morning by some property owners in the area who had questions about the plan and its impact to their property. In the interest of continuing and increasing communications with these stakeholders, the City requested that MPC postpone its hearing of this document for 30 days in order to allow time for the City and MPC to meet with these property owners. The plan is now scheduled to be heard at the July 8th meeting at 1:30 pm in the Large Assembly Room of the City County Building.

Finally, a possible item of interest:
Knox Heritage is holding an "architectural salvage sale" all day Friday, June 11, and from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 12, at their offices at 1300 North Broadway - in the carriage house of the WATE-TV property. For more information visit: http://www.knoxheritage.org/.

Monday, June 7, 2010

June 7th Update

From: KUB Community Relations (Contact No. 594-7988)

Re: Traffic Advisory – White Avenue Road Closure

White Avenue – KUB and its contractor will temporarily close a section of
White Avenue between 16th Street and 17th Street to thru traffic daily
from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. weekdays between June 7-11 and June 14-18 as sewer
system upgrades are completed in this area. All intersections will remain
open during construction. Access to parking facilities in this area will
remain open. This section of White Avenue will be reopened to traffic the
weekend of June 12-13 and during overnight hours through the week.

Appropriate traffic control measures will be in place at this location to
alert motorists of the closure. Motorists are advised to expect possible
delays and use caution when traveling in this area.

Friday, June 4, 2010

June 4th Update

Thanks to everyone who attended the Ft. Sanders Quarterly Stakeholder meeting yesterday at the University Visitors' Center. A draft of the meeting minutes will be posted to the blog next week.

One item that was covered in the meeting was the Ft. Sanders Neighborhood District Long Range Planning Implementation Strategy document. This is the draft plan prepared by the Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC) that documents the Ft. Sanders Long Range Planning efforts and recommendations. This document will be sent to the monthly MPC meeting for consideration and a recommendation next week, on Thursday, June 10 at 1:30 pm. That meeting is held in the Large Assembly Room of the City County Building for anyone interested in attending.

The final draft of the planning document with pictures and maps is available at MPC's agenda website: http://agenda.knoxmpc.org/ from that page click on the agenda package, and then click on the link to item #6. The plan is contained in the subject line link. The next step for this document, if MPC gives a postive recomendation, is to send it to City Council for consideration.

Thanks so much for your continued interest and support of the Ft. Sanders area! I hope everyone has a great weekend - don't forget First Friday and the International Biscuit Festival.