KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Whether you're showing up to get a taste of the Irish or you're just visiting downtown, you'll notice several downtown roads are closed this weekend.
There are two festivals, two road runs and a parade.
Festival-related no-parking zones go into effect at 1 p.m. Friday and continue through 10 p.m. Saturday on Market Street between Union and Clinch avenues and Union Avenue between Walnut and Gay streets.
These roads will be closed to traffic Friday 3 - 10 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Parking in City-owned garages is free after 6 p.m. weeknights and all day on Saturdays and Sundays. Construction on State Street Garage continues to limit available parking spaces there, however spaces are available in the nearby Dwight Kessel, City-County Building, Main Street and Locust Street garages.
The north end of Market Square and Wall Avenue will serve as the staging area for the Lucky Kidney Run. Wall Avenue will close to on-street parking at 8 a.m. and remain closed to traffic until 11:30 a.m.
Knoxville Police officers will maintain rolling road closures along the race route: East on Wall Avenue, left on Gay Street, right on Jackson Avenue, left on Morgan Street, left at E. Depot Avenue, right at Gay Street, right at Emory Place, right at N. Central Street, left on 4th Avenue, left on Luttrell Street, U-turn back through route to Wall Avenue.
Street parking along the parade route closes at 10:45 a.m. The parade steps off at 12:55 p.m. from Howard Baker Jr. Blvd, across from the Knoxville Civic Auditorium.
Eastbound lanes of Howard Baker Jr. Blvd between Hall of Fame and Hill Avenue will be closed from 10:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. The following blocks along the parade route will be closed from 12:45 - 2 p.m.: E. Church Avenue to Gay Street; Gay Street between Cumberland and Depot avenues; Gay Street to Jackson Avenue between Gay and Patton streets.
Drivers should expect rolling closures along the route beginning at 2 p.m. with temporary traffic stops at cross streets.
Runners start at Barley's and head east on Jackson Avenue for three blocks, then right onto South Kentucky Street, right on Willow Avenue, right on Central Street, left on Jackson Avenue, right on Gay Street, right on Emory Place, cross North Central Street onto East Fourth Avenue, follow Fourth to Third Avenue, and turn left on Third, left on Lamar Street, right on Fourth, cross back over North Central to Emory Place, left on North Gay Street, left on Jackson Avenue, and end at Barley's.
From Sunday to Monday, a large crane will be temporarily erected in front of the Embassy Suites Hotel at 507 South Gay Street as part of the construction and renovation.
Therefore, the following streets will be temporarily closed Sunday, March 17, at 2 a.m. and will reopen Monday, March 18, no later than 6 p.m.
The following streets will be temporarily closed:
- Gay Street will be closed at Union Avenue, south to Clinch Avenue.
- Union Avenue will be closed from Walnut Street to Gay Street.
- Market Street will be closed from Union Avenue to Clinch Avenue.
The crane will be dismantled and removed Monday.
Signs for vehicle and pedestrian traffic will be placed appropriately at 2 a.m., Sunday, according to a release from the city.
Only one sidewalk will be closed and is located on the west side of Gay Street at the Embassy Suites building between Union and Clinch avenues.
The release said the William F. Conley Building, a 13-story, 154,000-square-foot condo and office building, is being transformed into an Embassy Suites. The mixed-use hotel will include an anchor restaurant on the corner of Union Avenue and Gay Street with 160 hotel units above.
The hotel is expected to open in late fall 2019.