March 5th Update

Thanks to everyone who attended the Fort Sanders Stakeholder meeting this week. We had a great turn out for the first quarterly meeting. As discussed in the meeting, the Draft Fort Sanders Neighborhood Plan and appendicies are posted under the Links section on this page. Please feel free to share these documents with anyone who might be interested. Of course, if you have any questions or comments about the documents, do not hesitate to contact me at awallace@cityofknoxville.org.

Please note that Appendix C will have images added to it, prior to finalizing the document. Also the Plan will be sent to MPC and City Council for adoption as an update to the 2000 Fort Sanders Forum Plan after a period for review.

If anyone is interested in assisting with the facilitation of the future quarterly meetings, please let me know. The dates for the rest of the year are June 3, September 2, and December 2; the meetings will be on the first Thursday of the month at 3:00pm, location to be determined.

Finally, this is the First Friday of the month and that means lots of great activities downtown - hope you can get out and enjoy some of them. Have a wonderful weekend!

March 3rd Update

Just a quick reminder of the Ft. Sanders Stakeholder Quarterly meeting at 3 p.m. on Thursday, March 4 in Ballroom B, University of Tennessee Visitor Center, 2704 Kingston Pike. PLEASE NOTE that this is a different location than that of previous Fort Sanders meetings hosted by the city.

The meeting Agenda and Press Release regarding the meeting are available in the Links section of this page. If you have any questions, please contact me at awallace@cityofknoxville.org

Thanks and have a great day!

February 19th Update

Fort Sanders Stakeholder Quarterly Meeting Information
Date: March 4, 2010
Time: 3:00 pm
Location: Ballroom B, UT's Visitors' Center, 2704 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN

Please make plans to attend this meeting updating last year's stakeholder meetings. An agenda will be posted next week here on the blog. Also please note the location is different from the previous meetings; parking is available on site at UT's Visitors' Center.

Also this week, City staff received more good news from the Tennessee Department of Transportation regarding the Cumberland Avenue Streetscape Project. The Environmental Division has reviewed the proposed project for compliance with environmental laws and regulations. The project as proposed will not directly, indirectly or cumulatively have any significant environmental impacts. This assessment has been forwarded to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for their review and approval. The next step for the streetscape project, once reviewed and approved by FHWA, will be the detailed design of the street. We will keep you posted on this process and let you know about any public meetings for the detail design. I would like to thank our consultants, City Engineering and TDOT for all their hard work and efforts to compile the necessary information for the Programmatic Categorical Exclusion for this project.

Thanks for your continued interest and have a great weekend.

February 12th Update

Good news!

The city of Knoxville has recently been informed that the Tennessee Department of Transporation (TDOT) has selected the Ft. Sanders Sidewalk Improvement request for Fiscal Year 2010 Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Funds. This decision was based on a recommendation from the Knoxville Regional Transporation Planning Organization (TPO). The funds will be used to repair, replace and install sidewalks in the northwest portion of the neighborhood. I would like to thank TDOT, the TPO, and City Engineering for their assistance and guidance with this project. The grant amount is $250,000 and is programmed to be fully funded by TDOT. More information will be forthcoming as this project gets developed with the state.

Have a great weekend! Happy Valentine's Day, Happy President's Day, and thank you for your continued interest in all things that connect to Cumberland Avenue!

February 5th Update

City staff attended the Cumberland Avenue Merchant's Association (CAMA) Meeting this week and provided a project update. The City is still in a public comment period on the draft form code and streetscape concept designs. There were several new attedees at the meeting and everyone was glad to see additional businesses represented at this meeting. The next CAMA meeting will be March 3, at 3:00 pm in the Old College Inn.

Ft. Sanders Stakeholder Meeting is scheduled for the first Thursday in March at 3:00 pm. This meeting was requested at the conclusion meeting of the Ft. Sanders Long Range Planning process and is anticipated to be a quarterly meeting throughout the year. Additional information and meeting location will be provided on the blog closer to date.

KUB announced that on February 1st, that the small parking area will close at the south end of the Third Creek Greenway near the Neyland Greenway intersection in association with a planned PACE 10 wastewater collection system improvement project in this area. The wastewater project will replace 2,100 feet of wastewater trunkline
along Third Creek. KUB will also construct a 6.5 million gallon wastewater storage tank at the west end of the Kuwahee Wastewater Treatment Plant. The overall project is scheduled for completion by spring 2011, weather permitting. For more information, please contact KUB Community Relations: (865) 594-7988

Have a great weekend and don't forget tonight's First Friday events downtown!

January 29th Update

Over the last few weeks, city staff has continued to meet with stakeholders regarding the draft Form Code and the Streetscape concept plans including meetings with representatives of the Historic Fort Sanders Neighborhood Association, Knoxville Area Transit (KAT), the City's Operations Team, the Mayor's Student Advisory Board, and individual property and business owners. The discussions are going well and we would like to thank everyone for their comments and questions as we continue this public comment period.

Also this week, I was invited to participate in a panel discussion at the Nashville Complete Streets Workshop. Complete Streets are road networks that are safer, more livable, and welcoming to everyone. It was a great opportunity to discuss the Cumberland Ave. Streetscape project and the efforts of both local and state government to transform this strip into a more attractive, economically successful, vibrant and safe corridor.

If you would like more information about the workshop please visit: http://www.nashvillempo.org/completestreets.html
If you're interested in the Complete Streets Design Guidelines that were created for the Knoxville Regional Transporation Planning Organization (TPO) by Gresham Smith and Partners please visit: http://www.knoxtrans.org/plans/complete_streets/index.htm

Thanks for your continued interest! I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable weekend.

Happy New Year! January 8th Update

Greetings everyone! I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday season.

City staff is continuing to meet with property and buisness owners along the corridor to discuss the draft Cumberland Ave. Corridor Form District and the concept designs for the Streetscape project. If you or someone you know would be interested in a one on one meeting regarding your property or business and this plan, please contact Anne Wallace at awallace@cityofknoxville.org. Also the draft code is currently being reviewed by the city's law department and an independent consultant.

Staff also attended the Cumberland Ave. Merchants Association (CAMA) and provided a project update on Wednesday, January 6th. The CAMA meets the first Wednesday of every month at 3:00 pm in the Old College Inn to discuss items of interest for merchants along the corridor; everyone is welcome and invited to attend. If you would like more information about CAMA, please visit: http://www.cityofknoxville.org/policy/cumberland/cama.asp

Finally, staff is finalizing the recommendations that came out of the Ft. Sanders Long Range Planning effort and will post the recommendations on this blog in the next few weeks.

Thanks for your continued interest and have a safe, happy, and prosperous new year!