September 7th Update...It's Football Time in Tennessee!

RIDE KAT TO UT FOOTBALL GAMES; PARKING

ALSO AVAILABLE AT CITY-OWNED GARAGES

In order to make the first home University of Tennessee football game as stress-free as possible, the City of Knoxville is offering some highlights and tips to help Vol fans navigate transportation and parking.

Street parking is severely limited near Neyland Stadium. Game attendees are encouraged to explore taking a Knoxville Area Transit (KAT) regular bus, which drops passengers two blocks away from the stadium gates. There are also more than 6,000 parking spaces at City-owned downtown garages, some directly serviced by KAT’s special football game shuttles.

The Sept. 8 home opener against East Tennessee State University will kick off at 4 p.m. Check out the University of Tennessee’s game day parking and traffic website for updated information.

“We encourage everyone to have a fun and safe day at the game by planning parking in advance and arriving early to avoid peak traffic times,” said Lt. Brian Evans, Traffic Services Coordinator for the Knoxville Police Department.

  

Getting to the game by bus

Want to avoid the cost of paying to park? KAT fixed-route buses can save you time and effort, in addition to cash.

KAT offers Passenger Playbook guides to assist riders in reaching Cumberland Avenue, just two blocks from Neyland Stadium. A day pass costs $4, or $2 for seniors 65 and older, persons with disabilities, and students age 18 and under with proper ID. 

Day passes and wristbands are available at the Knoxville Transit Station, 301 Church Ave., starting a week before game day. 

For additional information, visit www.katbus.com or call 865-637-3000. Use #KATGoesThere for game day updates.

Garage parking

All City-owned garages are open on game day. The Main Street, City County Building and Locust Street garages charge $20 to park; the fee at Knox County’s Dwight Kessel Garage is $15, and the City-owned Civic Coliseum Garage and Blackstock Avenue lot are $10 each.

The State Street and Market Square garages are free on game days, since they service other parkers – Farmers’ Market shoppers, for example, or people attending a movie at the Regal Riviera downtown.

Park and ride

KAT offers a football shuttle service, available for $10 round trip from the Old City, Civic Coliseum or Market Square; parking fees may apply, depending on where you park to catch the shuttle. 

An additional option in West Knoxville is to park and ride a shuttle from Farragut High School. Parking is free, and you can make the entire round trip for $20. Shuttles begin three hours before kickoff and leave approximately every 20 minutes. The final trip departs from Farragut High School one hour before kickoff. Wristbands are available at Farragut High School beginning three hours before kickoff. Return service starts at the beginning of 4th quarter and continues for approximately one hour after the game. 

Street parking

The City two years ago installed more than 1,000 new parking meters throughout downtown and in parts of the UT/Fort Sanders area. They accept payment by credit card as well as coins. Please be aware that meters and allowed times vary, but daytime payment is required on Saturdays for on-street parking.

On the UT campus, Volunteer Boulevard’s 10-hour meters on home-game football Saturdays will be charging a $25 flat fee beginning with the Sept. 8 home opener.

All City of Knoxville parking revenues are used to support parking and infrastructure improvements in the downtown and UT areas.

To further study your parking options for UT games, visit http://knoxparking.com/.

  

Traffic plans

            Get details on pre- and post-game traffic flow plans, including detours and street closures designed to move large numbers of motorists more efficiently, by visiting www.knoxvilletn.gov/gameday.

            Remember: Due to safety concerns and the heavy volume of traffic, there are no left turns allowed on Cumberland Avenue before, during or after the game.

            To access restaurants or businesses on the north side of Cumberland Avenue, take southbound 17th Street to Cumberland Avenue; turn right onto Cumberland, then access the businesses by turning right into their parking areas.

To reach destinations on the south side of Cumberland, take Neyland Drive to Joe Johnson Drive; turn left onto West Volunteer Boulevard; turn right onto Cumberland. Or: Take Alcoa Highway and the Kingston Pike exit; turn onto Cumberland; turn right into the business. An area wide parking map is available at this link.

July 27th Update

Cumberland Avenue Merchants Association (CAMA) - Monthly Meeting

Date: Wednesday, August 1st

Time: 3:00 - 4:00 pm 

Location: Copper Cellar, 1807 Cumberland Avenue

What: The merchants and other interested stakeholders meet to discuss items of interest or concern and ways to promote and market this district.

There will also be discussion of upcoming events and opportunities for business participation. 

Parking: Available parking is located at Copper Cellar. 

Hope to see you there. Bring a neighbor or a friend! 

TOWING TO BE ENFORCED IN FORT SANDERS FOR STRIPING

Drivers in the Fort Sanders area should be aware that towing will be enforced where temporary “No Parking” signs are displayed on Saturday, July 28, between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m.

The City’s Traffic Engineering Division will be improving traffic safety by painting lines for parking zones in the area. The temporary signage will be installed on Friday.

Closures will take place in the following zones:

-  21st Street between Forest Avenue and Laurel Avenue;

-  20th Street between Grand Avenue and Highland Avenue;

-  Forest Avenue between 17th Street and 18th Street;

-  22nd Street between Clinch Avenue and Highland Avenue; and 

- Laurel Avenue between 17th Street and 18th Street.

With many of the University of Tennessee’s students out for summer break, alternative street parking should be available on streets surrounding the areas that will be affected by this striping project.

New Garage to Offer Public Parking for Cumberland Avenue Visitors

Coming soon for visitors to the Cumberland Avenue district: Free parking on nights and weekends at the new UT Terrace Avenue Garage. Details below.

There’s been a huge amount of new private investment in the Cumberland Avenue Corridor – more than $190 million in the past few years.

What’s been needed, many Cumberland Avenue merchants say, is more parking.

It’s coming soon.

Last week, the University of Tennessee announced that its new Terrace Avenue Garage, located between Lake and Terrace avenues, will offer free parking on nights and weekends when it opens in August.

“This will be a tremendous boost to the restaurants and retailers here,” said Joe Burger III, president of the Cumberland Avenue Merchants Association. “The new 1,000-space garage is located just a block off Cumberland, right in the middle of the commercial corridor.”

The new garage is being designated for commuter students, faculty and staff. But because the garage has been built to accommodate future growth in campus programs and enrollment, UT is able to offer free public parking after 5 p.m. on weeknights and on weekends (excluding football Saturdays and other special event days).

“Cumberland Avenue is the most important entry point to UT, and we recognize the importance of this area for our city and our university,” said Chris Cimino, UT’s vice chancellor for finance and administration. “Providing this parking is one way we can continue to encourage the community and visitors to our city to come explore the area.”

Mayor Madeline Rogero thanked the university for its offer of free garage parking on nights and weekends.

“Cumberland Avenue is the gateway to UT’s campus, and it’s also an increasingly robust and diverse commercial corridor,” Rogero said. “Free and convenient parking will be vital in supporting the private investments that have been made in the past few years along the new Cumberland Avenue.”

Read UT’s announcement here.

July 6th Update

Cumberland Avenue Merchants Association (CAMA) - Monthly Meeting

**Date: Wednesday, JULY 11th** 

**Please note the date change - CAMA typically meets on the 1st Wednesday of the month, but due to the Independence Day Holiday the meeting is moved one week back to July 11th. Happy 4th of July!

Time: 3:00 - 4:00 pm 

Location: Copper Cellar, 1807 Cumberland Avenue

What: The merchants and other interested stakeholders meet to discuss items of interest or concern and ways to promote and market this district.

There will also be discussion of upcoming events and opportunities for business participation. 

Parking: Available parking is located at Copper Cellar. 

Hope to see you there. Bring a neighbor or a friend! 

June 29th Update

Cumberland Avenue Merchants Association (CAMA) - Monthly Meeting

**Date: Wednesday, JULY 11th** 

**Please note the date change - CAMA typically meets on the 1st Wednesday of the month, but due to the Independence Day Holiday the meeting is moved one week back to July 11th. Happy 4th of July!

Time: 3:00 - 4:00 pm 

Location: Copper Cellar, 1807 Cumberland Avenue

What: The merchants and other interested stakeholders meet to discuss items of interest or concern and ways to promote and market this district.

There will also be discussion of upcoming events and opportunities for business participation. 

Parking: Available parking is located at Copper Cellar. 

Hope to see you there. Bring a neighbor or a friend! 

Festival on the 4th

Wednesday, July 4th, 2018
World's Fair Park 
4 p.m. - 10 p.m.

The Festival on the 4th Festival on the 4th delivers a wide variety of family fun including entertainment, activities and treats at the City of Knoxville's 4th of July celebration at the World's Fair Park, rain or shine. Fireworks are scheduled for 9:35 PM. 

For more information visit, here. 

June 1 Update

Cumberland Avenue Merchants Association (CAMA) - Monthly Meeting

Date: Wednesday, June 6

Time: 3:00 - 4:00 pm 

Location: Copper Cellar, 1807 Cumberland Avenue

What: The merchants and other interested stakeholders meet to discuss items of interest or concern and ways to promote and market this district.

There will also be discussion of upcoming events and opportunities for business participation. 

 

Parking: Available parking is located at Copper Cellar. 

Hope to see you there. Bring a neighbor or a friend! 

 

Cumberland Avenue Cleanup was a Big Success!

Thanks to everyone who came out to pick up trash along Cumberland Avenue, May 22nd! Keep Knoxville Beautiful did a great job getting the word out, getting volunteers signed up and providing supplies for the event. CAMA had a great turn out of merchants and staff to help; including free biscuits and coffee from McDonalds! There were over 35 volunteers who picked up litter for 2 hours! Plus many thanks to the City of Knoxville Public Service crew for picking up bags of trash and recyclables and properly disposing of them!

 

The Cleanup started at 9:00 AM under cloudy skies with a warm welcome from Councilwoman Stephanie Welch, District 1 representative. She noted that Cumberland is a gateway to Third Creek and how important it is to protect our watersheds. Councilwoman Welch also announced the social media campaign #CAMA Cares. Businesses along Cumberland that participate in this initiative are pledging to have their staff clean up around their property 5-10 minutes a day. It may not sound like much, but the benefits are so important.

 

Here are some images from the cleanup!

 

May 18th Update - Cleanup on 5/22

MERCHANTS, VOLUNTEERS TO TIDY UP CUMBERLAND AVENUE

The Cumberland Avenue Merchants Association (CAMA), Keep Knoxville Beautiful and the City of Knoxville will host a Cumberland Avenue Cleanup event from 9-11 a.m. on Tuesday, May 22.

CAMA merchants – enthusiastic about the greener new Cumberland Avenue – have pledged to take a more active role in routinely picking up toss-down litter near their businesses.

Flyaway pieces of litter are annoying, but they can accumulate in pockets of debris, out of sight, that grow into serious problems. The accumulations happen everywhere, and they can spiral out of control.

Way, way downstream, scientists have documented islands of floating trash in the oceans (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFzYnLI9xxw) that are the size of U.S. states, but it’s not widely understood that litter from places as far inland as Knoxville, Tennessee, can contribute to the growth of these islands.

Trash thrown down on the ground or blown out of an uncovered container is washed into storm drains and local creeks. It then can make its way into the Tennessee River, on to the Mississippi River, and eventually into the Gulf of Mexico.

           That’s why, as part of the $25 million investment in public infrastructure along the Cumberland Avenue Corridor project, City stormwater engineers installed a new stormwater catch system for Third Creek.

           A 4-foot pipe running beneath Cumberland Avenue collects much of the runoff from both the Fort Sanders neighborhood and Cumberland Avenue area and drains toward Third Creek near the greenway. Before it drains into Third Creek, a lot of the water goes through a treatment unit, which removes large quantities of litter and pollutants from the stormwater. Unfortunately, some trash inevitably makes its way to the creek.

            

            Along Cumberland alone, crews collect more than 4,000 pounds of garbage and recyclables each week that people responsibly place in receptacles.

            “CAMA wanted to launch this cleanup as the next step toward making sure Cumberland looks its best,” said Joe Burger, owner of the Cumberland Avenue McDonald’s and CAMA President.

“We want to make a statement that we care about our area, and that we’re going to take action and take ownership of our commercial corridor.”

Keep Knoxville Beautiful is asking volunteers to register for the May 22 cleanup so it can plan how many bags, gloves and other supplies to provide. To register, visit https://bit.ly/2wpvg53.

Volunteers for the cleanup event will meet at the Copper Cellar, 1807 Cumberland Ave. Parking will be available in the Copper Cellar upper lot, closest to White Avenue. McDonald’s will be providing free coffee and biscuits to volunteers, and its parking lot will be available for additional parking, as needed.

If you haven’t been to Cumberland Avenue recently, swing by and admire the more than 90 large trees that have leafed out.

With a conversion to LED lights and the new stormwater infrastructure, the new Cumberland is more sustainably responsible than ever. Runoff water reaching Third Creek is the cleanest in modern times.

“The new Cumberland Avenue water quality treatment unit does a great job at helping prevent trash and debris from washing into Third Creek, but the device has limitations and can’t get it all,” said Chris Howley, the City of Knoxville’s Stormwater Engineering Chief.

“It really takes community effort in using the trash cans and cleaning up trash on the sidewalk, so that it won’t wash down the drain and end up in the creek and river.”

CUMBERLAND AVENUE MERCHANTS WELCOME DESTINATION IMAGINATION GLOBAL FINALISTS!

Get ready for 18,000 new faces to visit the Knoxville Convention Center, Cumberland Avenue and the surrounding areas for the Destination Imagination 2018 Global Finals! 

CAMA would like to thank the team at Graphic Creations, for putting together this great Welcome Poster. Posters were distributed at the May CAMA meeting on May 2, but if you still need one contact Helen Morton at University Liquors. 

The event officially starts on Wednesday May 23rd in the afternoon with the opening ceremony and concludes late on Saturday May 26th in the afternoon with the closing ceremony.

The University of Tennessee has provided the following map for information about parking and accessing resources around the event. Merchants can also pick up materials for visitors from Visit Knoxville.

As always, thanks for your interest in Cumberland Avenue - have a safe and fun-filled weekend. Hope to see you at the Cleanup on Tuesday morning! 

May 1st Update

Cumberland Avenue Merchants Association (CAMA) - Monthly Meeting

Date: Wednesday, May 2

Time: 3:00 - 4:00 pm 

Location: Copper Cellar, 1807 Cumberland Avenue

What: The merchants and other interested stakeholders meet to discuss items of interest or concern and ways to promote and market this district.

There will also be discussion of upcoming events and opportunities for business participation. 

Parking: Available parking is located at Copper Cellar. 

Hope to see you there. Bring a neighbor or a friend!