The City of Knoxville will hold a public meeting on Tuesday, September 30, to outline its plans for re-striping part of North Central Street - the first step in a comprehensive plan to make it a mixed-use, more pedestrian-friendly street.

The meeting will be from 6-7 p.m. in the Community Room of the Knox County Health Department located at 140 Dameron Avenue. 
 
"We're going to present a detailed plan for re-striping Central Street from Woodland to Baxter," said Bob Whetsel, the city's director of redevelopment, "with the goal of accomplishing that before the end of the year." 
 
The re-striping plan will transform that section of Central from the current four-lane configuration into a street featuring a travel lane in each direction and a turn lane with bicycle lanes in some sections and on-street parking in others.

The configuration of the sidewalks will not change. 
 
"Central already has fairly wide sidewalks," Whetsel said. "The road diet we're talking about on Central is the reduction of lanes for automobiles and using that pavement for other beneficial uses, such as bike lanes and on street parking." 
 
Representatives from the Knoxville Utilities Board will be present to report on upcoming PACE 10 wastewater system improvements set for North Central and Broadway which will limit the extent of the diet for the time being.

Whetsel will also provide a status report on other improvement projects and plans that are moving forward in the Downtown North/I-275 Redevelopment and Urban Renewal Area. 
 
"There is going to be a lot of information available and this meeting should give residents and merchants a good idea of what to expect in the next year or so," Whetsel said.

The Downtown North area is roughly defined by Depot Street on the south, I-275 to the west, Woodland Avenue to the north and Hall of Fame Drive on the east - with North Central and Broadway being the main thoroughfares.

The city is seeking to expand the revitalization successes it has seen in downtown Knoxville to the north and is using its existing resources and programs to try and provide the infrastructure necessary for that transformation.

On North Central, for example, the city would like to help it develop so that there are offices as well as residential and retail elements facing the street.