First Traffic Calming Meeting set for April 22nd

	Above is an example of a traffic undulation used in an historic district in Athens, GA.

Like the weather, traffic is something that most of us talk about but feel we have little or no control over. We see speeders rocketing down Glenwood like slalom racers at Olympic trials. We watch service trucks barrel down Oklahoma as if there were a gold medal at the Central Ave. intersection, and we witness cars gunning down Grainger Ave. and sometimes missing the bend in the road and winding up in 1st Creek as if they were practicing a vehicular form of the platform dive. We shake our heads and wonder what we can do.

Well, on Tuesday, April 22nd, you and all your neighbors get the chance to do something about the traffic problems in Old North Knoxville. From 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Fulton High School you will be able to share your concerns and possible ideas for solutions at the first traffic calming meeting. Food will even be provided, so you can bring your appetite along with your questions, concerns, and ideas.

This is a neighborhood-wide effort to find viable solutions to speeding, parking problems, and other traffic concerns that you have. That is the purpose of this meeting, to begin a process of information and ideas. Members of the neighborhood and the East Tennessee Community Design Center (ETCDC) want to hear what you have to say about traffic problems in Old North Knoxville. No problem will be ignored; no idea will be discarded. But unless you show up, something that needs to be addressed could be missed. 

		Above is a photo of a device for slowing traffic and protecting parked cars, also from Athens.

The East Tennessee Community Design Center is a non-profit agency whose mission "is to make East Tennessee a better place to live and work by bringing design and planning assistance to communities lacking resources." Supported in part by United Way contributions and staffed by dedicated volunteers who donate their time and talents, the ETCDC was created in 1970 and serves 16 counties in East Tennessee. They are located at 1522 Highland Ave. in Knoxville. Their web site is www.etcdc.org.

Executive Director David M. Watson and several volunteers from the Center, along with Bill Cole from Knoxville's Traffic Engineering Division, recently met with members of Old North Knoxville (ONK) to help outline the steps necessary to develop a traffic calming plan. Once developed, the plan will then be presented to the city for consideration and implementation. But before the final plan is presented, it will be developed through a series of four public meetings, reviewed by the neighborhood at each meeting, altered and changed, and neighborhood support solicited for the final plan. 

	Above is a photo of a porch in ONK being repaired after a speeding car rammed into it.

David Watson emphasized that it is important for residents of the neighborhood to turn out for all four meetings. The process could take up to a year before a plan is fully developed, he said, and without public participation from all the residents of the neighborhood, it will not be the best plan with the best solutions for the betterment of all of Old North Knoxville. 

So, please attend the April 22nd meeting from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Fulton High School. Information about traffic calming will be presented and your questions and concerns will be heard. The second of the four meetings will be scheduled after input from the first meeting is gathered and formed into a report. Future meetings will be posted on www.oldnorthknoxville.org, the neighborhood web site, and in upcoming editions of Old North News. 

Answers will only be found if we're all willing to look for them.

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