TWO SHORT-TERM CLOSURES ON SECTIONS OF CUMBERLAND AVENUE SCHEDULED IN THE COMING WEEK

A contractor, Southern Constructors Inc., will be closing Cumberland Avenue twice next week, part of the City’s ongoing reconstruction of Cumberland.

The first closure, weather permitting, will occur at 17th Street this weekend to accommodate underground utility installation. Cumberland Avenue will be closed starting at 5 a.m. Saturday, March 12. The intersection is scheduled to reopen at 6 a.m. Monday, March 14.

Through traffic this weekend should use Volunteer Boulevard as an alternate route. Local traffic may detour onto White Avenue or Lake Avenue.

Southern Constructors Inc. will then close Cumberland Avenue between 20th and 22nd streets overnight, starting at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, March 15, to install a natural gas main across Cumberland. The avenue will reopen at 6 a.m. Wednesday, March 16.

Eastbound commuters should detour using 22nd Street to Terrace Avenue to 19th Street back to Cumberland. Westbound commuters will detour onto 20th Street to Clinch Avenue to 22nd Street before returning to Cumberland.

                Anne Wallace, the City’s Deputy Director of Redevelopment, said the work represents a small milestone, because the utility work has rolled out to the eastern edge of the Cumberland Project.

Merchants are enthusiastic about the transformation taking place, she said. The City and its contractors, she added, are committed to working with stakeholders to minimize road-closure inconveniences by carefully scheduling them in a way that maintains access to the restaurants and retailers. For example, these Cumberland closures were intentionally scheduled during the University of Tennessee’s spring break to minimize the impact.

Meanwhile, three other closures are scheduled next week in the Cumberland Avenue Corridor:

  17th Street: One northbound lane of 17th Street between Cumberland and White avenues is scheduled to be closed next week. Southern Constructors Inc. will be installing a new water main.

  North 19th Street: Southern Constructors Inc. is installing a storm drain between Cumberland and White avenues. North 19th Street will be closed next week.

  Clinch Avenue: Ascend Wireless will be parking a crane and doing work between 17th and 18th streets. Clinch Avenue will be closed between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Wednesday, March 16.

To know before you go, visit our Google map with projects in the area, available here.

More information is available at www.CumberlandConnect.com, on the Cumberland Connect Facebook page, facebook.com/CumberlandConnect, and on the Cumberland Connect phone app. Or text VFL to 313131 to get text messages on the most current traffic updates.