Friday, July 30, 2010

July 30th Update

Ft. Sanders Stakeholder Update:
Thanks to everyone who attended yesterday's special called stakeholder meeting. Minutes from this meeting will be compiled and posted sometime next week for anyone who was unable to attend.

A few follow up items came out of the discussion: 1) The Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) meeting in which Ft. Sanders Regional Hospital will be requesting several variances will be held on August 19th at 4:00pm in the City County Building, for more information please visit: http://www.cityofknoxville.org/boards/zoning.asp; and 2) The Ft. Sanders Long Range Plan will be postponed from the August MPC agenda to September in order to allow stakeholders time to discuss additional points of concern and interest.

City Resurfacing Program:
The city of Knoxville's resurfacing program will be working in the Ft. Sanders neighborhood starting immediately and lasting for a few weeks. The streets that will be milled and re-surfaced are listed below:
Twenty First - from Cumberland to Forest
Twenty Second - From Cumberland to Forest
Twenty Third - From Clinch to Forest
Laurel - From Twenty Second to the west
Clinch - From Nineteenth to the west
White - From Twenty Second to the west
For questions or concerns regarding this work, please contact the city's Traffic Engineering Department at 865.215.6100.

KUB Updates:
The Knoxville Utility Board has announced several projects that will impact the Ft. Sanders area, please see the information listed below.

KUB Community Relations (Contact No. 594-7988)

Traffic Advisory – Road and lane closures for utility construction (weather permitting)

Seventeenth Street Road Closure (Aug. 2) – KUB crews completing sewer system upgrades will close all lanes on a section of Seventeenth Street between the Cumberland Avenue and Clinch Avenue intersections from 7 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Monday, August 2. Traffic will be detoured around the construction zone via Sixteenth Street to Clinch Avenue during this period.

Neyland Drive Lane Closures (Aug. 3 – 6) – KUB’s contractor will implement temporary lane closures on a section of Neyland Drive between Lake Loudoun Boulevard and Leinard Lane nightly from 7 p.m. – 7 a.m. and daily from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. starting on Tuesday evening, August 3, and lasting through Friday afternoon, August 6, to facilitate the installation of a water line
and roadway resurfacing. One eastbound and both westbound lanes of Neyland Drive will remain open at all times during these periods. All lanes on this section of Neyland Drive will be reopened each morning from 7 – 9 a.m. to accommodate morning commuter traffic.

PACE 10 Work - Beginning in early August 2010 and lasting through May 2011 (weather permitting), KUB and its contractors will make wastewater collection system improvements in your area as part of the PACE 10 program. PACE 10 is KUB’s accelerated 10-year wastewater
improvement program to aggressively attack the problem of sewer overflows and to provide a wastewater system that can better serve current and future customers.

Construction will take place along sections of Lake Avenue, Terrace Avenue, Caledonia Avenue, Twentieth Street, Nineteenth Street, Mountcastle Street, Twenty First Street, Twenty Second Street, Twentieth Street, and along a portion of the alleyway running between Cumberland Avenue and Lake Avenue (from Nineteenth Street and Twenty Second Street). Limited work may also be required on weekends to facilitate timely completion of this project.

If you have questions or concerns regarding this project, please call Reno Hall with KUB Customer Support at (865) 558-2117 (office) or 705-2817 (mobile) from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you have questions after hours, contact KUB at 524-2911.

Knox Heritage Update:
Knox Heritage announced a "Green House Open House" for Saturday August 21, 2010. The public is invited to attend a free open house to tour the building and grounds, ask questions of the designers, contractors and KH staff, and see sustainable design and construction methods in practice. The house located in Fort Sanders at 1011 Victorian Way (formerly 1011 Laurel Avenue), near the intersection of Laurel and 11th and near Fort Kid. No need to RSVP, just show up from 12:00 to 5:00 p.m. For more information please visit: http://www.knoxheritage.org/

Thanks again for your continued interest in all things that impact Cumberland Avenue and the surrounding area. Have a great weekend!

Friday, July 23, 2010

July 23rd Update

Ft. Sanders Stakeholder Meeting Reminder

What: Fort Sanders Stakeholders Meeting to review variances requested by Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center for proposed new signs and wayfinding measures on the hospital’s campus

When: 3:30 p.m., Thursday, July 29

Where: 2nd Floor Classrooms (A&B) at the Howard Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy, 1640 Cumberland Avenue

Who: Representatives from the hospital will make a presentation and there will be an opportunity for questions and comments. Other stakeholders will also have an opportunity to present updates.

Anyone with an interest in the long range planning of Fort Sanders Neighborhood and surrounding areas is invited to attend.

Friday, July 16, 2010

July 16th Update

Ft. Sanders Stakeholder Meeting Announcement:

There will be a special called Ft. Sanders Stakeholder Meeting on Thursday, July 29th at 3:30 p.m. in the 2nd Floor Classrooms (A&B) of the Howard Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy located on the University of Tennessee campus at 1640 Cumberland Avenue. Recommended parking is either on-street within the neighborhood or at the public parking garage on campus.

The primary purpose of this meeting will be to review the requested variances by Ft. Sanders Regional Medical Center for their campus signs and wayfinding. Representatives from the hospital will present this information to the group and there will be an opportunity for questions and comments.

Other stakeholders will also have an opportunity to present updates. Please feel free to contact me at awallace@cityofknoxville.org if you have any questions or comments.

KUB Traffic Advisory:
Re: Traffic Advisory – Road and lane closures for utility construction (weather permitting)

White Avenue Road Closure (July 19-30) – KUB crews completing sewer system upgrades will close a section of White Avenue to thru traffic between 16th Street and 17th Street around the clock starting on Monday, July 19, and lasting through Friday, July 30. Construction activity will be limited to daylight hours only; however, the road closure will remain in effect for the duration of the project due to ongoing excavation in the roadway and the presence of construction equipment.

Cumberland Avenue Lane Closures (July 20-21) – KUB contractor crews will temporarily reduce a section of Cumberland Avenue to one eastbbound and one westbound lane between Volunteer Boulevard and Phillip Fulmer Way overnight from 7 p.m. – 7 a.m., beginning Tuesday evening, July 20, and lasting through Wednesday morning, July 21, as sewer system upgrades are completed. All lanes of Cumberland Avenue will be reopened to traffic starting a 7 a.m.
on July 21.

Some listed closures may extend beyond the scheduled times depending on the conditions encountered during construction. Appropriate traffic control measures will be in place at each location to assist motorists traveling in these areas. Due to the ongoing presence of workers and
equipment, motorists are advised to use caution and expect temporary delays in these areas.

For more information or questions contact KUB Community Relations (Contact No. 594-7988).

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

June 13th - KUB Update

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

Re: Traffic Advisory – Lane and road closures for utility construction (weather permitting)

Kingston Pike Lane Closure – KUB crews will close the righthand westbound lane of traffic on a section of Kingston Pike between the Alcoa Highway overpass and S. Concord Street daily from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. on Wednesday, July 14, and Thursday, July 15, as upgrades are made to the natural gas distribution system. One westbound lane and all eastbound lanes will remain open during this closure.

Appropriate traffic control measures and devices will be in place at each
location to maintain traffic flow and alert motorists to the closures. Due
to the presence of workers and equipment, motorists are advised to expect
possible delays and use caution when traveling in this area.

Friday, July 9, 2010

July 9th Update

We hope everyone had a safe and happy Independence Day!

The city has recently met with KUB to continue conversations about a new utility substation in the Ft. Sanders area. KUB has worked with the city, representatives of the neighborhood, Dow Chemical, the University of Tennessee, the hospitals and other stakeholders to determine a good location, discuss ways to minimize negative impacts, and improve aesthetics of the facility to compliment the neighborhood. The new electric substation in the Dale Avenue/Seventeenth Street area would support growth at UT and provide increased reliability to UT, area hospitals, DOW, and the Fort Sanders community.

For more information on the substation project, please visit KUB's website at Special Projects and scroll to the Proposed UT Substation information. A map of the location and two possible designs of the exterior can be downloaded from this page. You can also ask questions or make comments by e-mailing comm@kub.org.

In a move that caught many by surprise, Ft. Sanders Regional Hospital / Covenant Health demolished two houses on Laurel Avenue this past week. This was an appropriately permitted activity on properties the hospital had recently acquired. The properties are not a part of the Neighborhood Conservation Overlay or the National Register Historic District (which require additional approval from the Historic Zoning Commission prior to demolition).

The draft of the Ft. Sanders Neighborhood District Long Range Plan has been postponed until the August 12th MPC meeting in order to allow additional stakeholders input and refinement of the document. A copy of the document is in the links section of this page and comments can be sent to awallace@cityofknoxville.org.

The city remains committed to working with all stakeholders to improve communication and support quality development in the area. Thanks for your interest and have a great weekend!