KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Editor's Note: This story originally said funding was meant to finish the Transforming Western Plan and Knoxville Vision Zero Plan. It was updated to say that the funding was meant to complement the plans.
The city of Knoxville will receive more than $19 million in federal grants to add sidewalks and medians along a stretch of Chapman Highway and to upgrade pedestrian features in the Beaumont neighborhood as part of a $1 billion Safe Streets and Roads for All national initiative.
The city of Knoxville was awarded $17.8 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation as part of "SAFER Knoxville 2.0," which will include design changes to Chapman Highway. It's a part of the Vision Zero plan, which aims to end all traffic fatalities on city owned roads by 2040.
"It's a state route and sadly, it has been the location of many traffic crashes in recent years, including some that are fatal. Sometimes those are cars to cars, sometimes those are cars hitting pedestrians. This grant will help do a lot of safety improvements that will make it safer for everyone who's using Chapman Highway, whether that be walking biking or traveling by car or bus," said Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon.
Kincannon says the City of Knoxville's local match of 20% will bring the total funds to a little over $22 million dollars to use for this project. she says about one million dollars will go toward studies on safety planning for other parts of the city.
"The Chapman Highway safety improvements have been a high priority for many years and we've made progress, but an extra $18 million from the federal government will help us make more progress faster," said Kincannon.
The project will happen in three phases and focus on a stretch of highway from Blount Avenue to Woodlawn Pike, which is about 3/4 of a mile. USDOT said the goal is to address pedestrian safety challenges along the highway, including high-speed drivers, people not yielding to pedestrians or people on bicycles, and "inconsistent pedestrian facilities."
The money will fund a new sidewalk or shared-use pedestrian and bike path along the west side of the highway, as well as new pedestrian signals at intersections and a wide, landscaped median.
"There are a lot of people in our city who can't afford a car or maybe they're a family of five with only one car and that has to be for the person doing the highest priority thing at that time. So making it safe is an issue of equity and making sure that it's safe for everybody, whether you're a car owner or not. It's also just a quality of life issue because many people feel healthier when they're able to walk places and yet they don't wanna be two feet from a car going 50 miles per hour. And so having those curbs, having those medians, having those improved signals will enable people who wanna walk, um, do so more safely and those who have to walk also be able to do so safely," said Kincannon.
Kincannon says this grant helps address the concerns of South Knoxville residents that they've been bringing up for years.
"This whole project, this grant application is a reflection of what we've been hearing from residents for years. Chapman Highway isn't safe and we need to make it safer," said Kincannon.
USDOT also approved a $1.7 million grant to improve pedestrian access in the Beaumont and Western Heights neighborhoods. Funding will pay for five crosswalks around Beaumont Magnet Academy and Western Heights Head Start, safer access to a park planned for the neighborhood and improvements to the Reed Street and Oldham Avenue intersections.
“This grant funding will help in our mission to create safe and walkable communities,” Knoxville Community Development Corporation CEO Ben Bentley said. “We’re excited to see these areas transformed into accessible neighborhoods where families can walk or bike safely to school and play.”
KCDC said the funding was requested to complement the Transforming Western Plan and the city's Vision Zero Plan which seeks to eliminate traffic deaths on city-controlled roads by 2040.