KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — KUB crews recently installed 12 lights to the Gibbs high school, middle school, and elementary school entrances along a half-mile stretch of Tazewell Pike.
This comes after community leaders and Knox County Commissioner Richie Beeler reached out to Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs, asking for help to make the area safer.
In recent years, a number of pedestrians have been struck crossing the road at night.
“As you can imagine, the entire stretch – before the lights were installed – was very dark and created a precarious situation, both on the road and on the sidewalk,” Mayor Jacobs said. “But the public realized there was a need for improvements and our team and KUB really stepped up to make this project happen.”
The county paid roughly $12,000 to install the lights and will maintain them.
Jim Snowden, senior director of the Knox County Engineering and Public Works Department, said the lights are only one component to making the area safer.
He said officials also are looking into possibly building a pedestrian bridge at some point.
