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Two recent wrecks at the same corner, Armstrong and Glenwood, illustrate why traffic calming is an important issue in Old North Knoxville.
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Traffic calming in any neighborhood,
even Old North Knoxville (ONK), is not a quick fix issue.
Plus the answers that might work in one part of Old North might not work, or even have an adverse effect in another part. That is why on April 22nd at
Fulton High School residents from different parts of ONK gathered to begin formulating a neighborhood-wide approach.
About 35 residents of ONK met with members of the Knoxville Police
Department, City Traffic Engineering, and Emergency Services. The meeting was coordinated by the
East Tennessee Community Design Center (ETCDC) and ONK residents Annalee Bohon and
Tomica Miller. Curtis Catron, a volunteer with the ETCDC, was the facilitator as several topics were discussed, including what traffic calming is, issues facing Old North concerning traffic calming, opportunities and constraints in dealing with those issues, and some options available in dealing with traffic calming in ONK.
Traffic Calming is:
Improving Safety for pedestrians, pets, and property in Old North; adding elements and enhancements that promote traffic calming; reducing speeding, accidents, and abuse of our streets by those looking for quick short cuts from one part of town to another. These are the goals of traffic calming.
Issues concerning Traffic Calming include:
Speeding; safety for pedestrians, pets, property, and those driving on our streets; people running stop signs, Cut through traffic on Glenwood, East Scott, East Oklahoma, Kenyon, Fremont, Grainger, and North 4th Ave.; better access to the First Creek Greenway; pedestrian access to Broadway Shopping Center; sidewalks repaired / upgraded; crosswalks; cars illegally parked on curbs and sidewalks; cars illegally parked the wrong way; better pedestrian linkage between the sides of Old North. (Part of Old North is on one side of Broadway while another part is on the other side of Broadway, but it is all one neighborhood.)
Opportunities and Constraints:
Funding; neighborhood involvement (or lack of); varying right of way widths; on street parking; emergency service access; adding additional or alternative transportation ways, such as bike lanes.
Options:
Some of the options presented included painted crosswalks; raised crosswalks (14' wide humps that are 3" high); textured pavement; roundabouts; traffic circles; lane narrowing; lane striping; stop signs; one-way streets; blocking off the ends of some streets; neckdowns; gateway treatments. Many more options can be found at
http://www.cityofknoxville.org/engineering/traffic/westhills/appendix.pdf
These options were only presented as possibilities. No options were selected.
The main point of this first meeting was to provide information and establish some ground rules. ONK residents heard from a city traffic engineer, representatives of the police department, and a member of the Emergency Services department. A second meeting will be in mid to late June. At this meeting, a formal plan for dealing with the issues, opportunities and constraints, and options will begin to be formed at this meeting. Even if you were unable to attend the first meeting, you are welcome to attend the second one. You input is needed if this is to be the best plan possible.
ONK would like to thank the members of the ETCDC who attended the meeting, as well as members of the different city services departments. Their help and concern is also vital to the success of this plan. Hope to see you at the meeting in June for the second of four planned meetings on this important issue.
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