KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — On this driving you crazy Monday, Cumberland Avenue is under construction again. This time crews are working on Cumberland Avenue from Phillip Fulmer Way to 11th Avenue.
Work began on July 29th. The nearly $1.4 million-dollar project is a partnership between the city of Knoxville and the University of Tennessee.
“We are extending the look that we saw on the western side of Cumberland Avenue,” said Director of Engineering Jim Hagerman.
Over the next several months, crews will install new traffic signals, lighting fixtures, and enhanced crosswalks.
“Unlike the rest of Cumberland Avenue, we’re not widening sidewalks, moving curbs, or changing the number of travel lanes,” Hagerman said.
In 2015, Cumberland Avenue received a huge facelift. For more than 20 months, the Cumberland Avenue Corridor Project was a headache for nearby business owners and drivers alike.
“The western part of the corridor we pretty much ripped the whole street up and re-did all the utilities underneath the road as well,” Hagerman. “It was a major construction project.”
Hagerman says this new project will not be as extensive for students and drivers, especially on game day weekends at UT.
“There will be no construction, no sidewalk closures, no lane closures on football Saturdays. And no lane closures during the first week of class,” Hagerman said.
But drivers should keep this in mind--- there may be occasional lane closures on Cumberland Avenue between 16th and 11th streets during the construction project.
Signs will be posted in advance of any lane closures.
The contractor for this new project is Southern Constructors Inc., and it should be completed by winter 2020.