KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Knoxville City Council was set to meet Tuesday evening. The proposal with the most money attached to it was a resolution beginning a project to connect the Fort Sanders neighborhood to Tyson Park.
The project began in 2015, when the city finished its Bicycle Facilities Plan, identifying a bicycle connection between the two areas as a high-priority project. It said that railroad tracks run between the two, separating them and limiting access to the two destinations.
The city then worked with firms that gave preliminary engineering services and made recommendations for a new bicycle and pedestrian connection. Those recommendations culminated in a proposal to build an underpass for bicycles and pedestrians, running under railroad tracks from Clinch Avenue to Metron Center Way, according to the proposed agreement.
It also said crews would then extend a greenway from the tunnel to an existing tunnel at Tyson Park, connecting the Fort Sanders neighborhood at Clinch Avenue to the Third Creek Greenway in Tyson Park.
The city said the entire project would need to be completed within 5 years of when the agreement is executed. It also said the project would cost a total of around $6.7 million.
However, the Tennessee Department of Transportation is expected to contribute around $5.4 million from the Transportation Improvement Program, which includes federal funds. The remaining amount, around $1.3 million, would be paid for by the city.
Knoxville City Council will also consider a proposal to continue working with Turn Up Knox to provide violence interruption street outreach programs — designed to partly prevent conflicts and issues between people from erupting into violence and endangering neighborhoods. That program would cost $450,000.
