Due to delays related to wet weather, the closure of 21st Street at the north side of its intersection with Cumberland Avenue has been extended by one day. Crews started Monday with installation of water and gas pipelines across 21st Street, and the street is now scheduled to reopen by 5 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 20, weather permitting.
During the closure, there is no access to or from 21st Street on the north side of Cumberland Avenue, but traffic flow on Cumberland itself is not affected. Nearby businesses Mellow Mushroom and Starbucks will have entrances to their parking lots open on both Cumberland and 21st Street.
The utility installation work is part of the City of Knoxville’s $17 million reconstruction of Cumberland, which will modernize aging infrastructure and change the existing four-lane street to a three-lane cross section with a raised median and left-turn lanes at intersections. Sidewalks will be widened and landscaped, and utility lines relocated, to create a more attractive, safer, pedestrian-friendly corridor.