KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Crews will soon tackle some big road repaving projects, aiming to fix some of the roads that cause the biggest concerns for people in North Knoxville.
Starting in the fall, crews will pave roads like Clinch Avenue, Old Broadway, Parkside Drive and Woodrow Drive. The projects come after complaints from neighbors, such as Daniel Shuemaker. He lives in the Fountain City area and said he was relieved to hear that Woodrow Drive was one of the roads set to be fixed.
"We've been waiting a long, long time," he said. "It's probably been well over a year, but it's just kinda hard to remember. But, you'd say it's been a journey."
Some of the roads needed to be repaved due to utility projects in the area several months ago. The Knoxville Utilities Board said it was working to improve the water system there. As the utility work went on, and the road was covered by rain and snow, neighbors said potholes started to form. KUB had to return to the area and patch it.
"We understand, we're thrilled to have the improvement of the utilities. But, as part of that — having the delay and the lack of communication, it was really stressful," said Shuemaker. "You have people trying to literally swerve significant divots and potholes and recesses. And so, ultimately, more than the concern for damage to our vehicles — we felt like it could be dangerous to us our children."
Woodrow Drive connects to North Broadway, running through a neighborhood. A statement from Knoxville's Engineering Director said, "The pavement management program not only considers which streets are due up in the maintenance rotation, but also factors in any needed utility upgrades."
Shuemaker said while neighbors are okay with crews working to improve utility systems, he said leaders could have been more communicative with the community.
"I think the biggest goal is that we have beautiful, safe streets that are easily passable to be able to come and go as we need to," he said.