April 15th Update - Orange & White Game (April 16) & Selfie with Smokey!

CUMBERLAND AVENUE VOL SPIRIT: MERCHANTS OFFER

‘SELFIES WITH SMOKEY’ DURING ORANGE AND WHITE GAME

A Cumberland Avenue Merchants Association (CAMA) promotion is adding to the Vol spirit surrounding Saturday’s Orange and White Game – and the football faithful visiting the Strip before and after Saturday’s game will be eligible for random prize drawings.

CAMA is sponsoring the first-ever Selfie With Smokey promotion. Fans can shoot selfies of themselves with cutouts of UT’s Smokey and the logos of participating businesses to become eligible for the drawings (more than a dozen prizes are available), such as gift cards from the Hilton Garden Inn and Copper Cellar.

Just tag your social-media posts #SelfieWithSmokey. The promotion runs from 11 a.m. Saturday until 9 p.m. that night. For details, please visit www.cumberlandconnect.com.

Just as the University of Tennessee football team will divide into an “orange” squad and a “white” squad for Saturday’s scrimmage, so too will the merchants.

Participating merchants on the north side of Cumberland Avenue will be the “white” team. They include Mellow Mushroom, Starbucks, Copper Cellar, Cookout, Insomnia Cookies, University Liquors, Niro’s Gyros, Jimmy John’s, Walgreens and Chipolte Mexican Grill.

Participating merchants south of Cumberland, the “orange” team, include the Hilton Garden Inn, Firehouse Subs, McDonald’s, Moe’s, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Subway, Sunspot, Panera Bread and Jason’s Deli.

Which set of merchants will generate the most selfies – the orange businesses on the south or the white north-siders?

The UT game kicks off at 2:05 p.m. Gates open at 12:30 p.m.

Fan Day autograph-seekers can meet Head Coach Butch Jones and UT players on the field from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Those attending Fan Day must enter from Gate 7; the gate opens at 10:30 a.m. for Fan Day participants.

For details, visit http://www.utsports.com/gameday/football/.

Meanwhile, please remember that the reconstruction of Cumberland Avenue is continuing between 17^th and 22^nd streets. The work is a $17 million City commitment to a vibrant Cumberland Avenue Corridor that will be safer, more attractive and pedestrian-friendly when the project is finished by late summer 2017.

On Saturday, anticipate game-day traffic and be sure to give yourself plenty of time to get to and from the game. Arrive early, and get a head start on shooting your selfies with Smokey!

Free parking is available at the University of Tennessee Agriculture Campus, with free shuttles running throughout the day. A few tips:

-  If parking at the Agriculture Campus, remember to use Neyland Drive and avoid driving on Cumberland Avenue.

-  Shuttles from parking areas start running at 11 a.m. from the Agriculture Campus, Stephenson Drive and the Kingston Pike building off of Concord Street.

-  Free parking is available everywhere on campus along with free admission to the game. A parking map is available at http://www.utsports.com/gameday/football/.

Generally, City traffic planners are recommending that commuters north of Cumberland use 17th Street to Clinch Avenue (or Grand to 17th Street when leaving Fort Sanders), while south-side motorists use Neyland Drive and Joe Johnson Drive.

With the Smoky Mountain Air Show happening at McGhee Tyson Airport this weekend, commuters are encouraged to avoid Alcoa Highway if possible.

Most importantly, officials are recommending that Orange and White Game fans arrive early and allow plenty of time to get parked and to access Neyland Stadium due to the Cumberland Avenue construction and possible congestion on Alcoa Highway.

Additional traffic tips and updates are available on 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.

Overnight Closures on Cumberland Avenue

There will be overnight closures of Cumberland between 19th Street and 17th Streets again on Monday, April 18, Tuesday, April 19, and Wednesday, April 20 from 10 PM to 6 AM to install south side water services to merchants. Overnight closures are weather permitting. Cumberland Avenue will NOT be closed during the day or early evening hours. 

Please see the detour map below.

The work scheduled for  Wednesday, April 13 through Saturday, April 16 on 18th Street south of Cumberland Avenue has been pushed out to a future date. For more information about the project be sure to check out the Two Week Look Ahead on www.cumberlandconnect.com.

As always, thanks for your interest in all things relating to Cumberland Avenue. Hope you have a safe and fun-filled weekend. Be sure to get out and support your Orange and White merchants and Go VOLS!