This week, motorists should anticipate several unrelated street closures in the City of Knoxville, including a one-night closure of the Henley Street exit ramps off eastbound Interstate 40 and southbound Interstate 275.
From 10 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 17, until 5 a.m. Friday, Dec. 18, the two ramps off I-40 East and I-275 South onto Henley Street will be closed. Henley Street itself will be open.
The Knoxville Utilities Board will be replacing a transformer on the north end of the Holiday Inn parking garage. The ramps’ closure is to accommodate a crane operating at the site.
Motorists wishing to access Henley Street off eastbound I-40 and southbound I-275 will be detoured to the Western Avenue exit, which adjoins the Henley exit before splitting. Drivers can turn left (east) onto Western to access Henley Street.
OTHER STREET CLOSURES THIS WEEK:
700 block of South Gay Street
A rebuild of the infrastructure in the 700 block of South Gay Street is underway and will continue for up to six months. During the project, the intersections at Cumberland and Church avenues generally will remain open to east-west through traffic, and full pedestrian access to businesses on the east side of Gay Street in the 700 block will be maintained.
White Avenue, between 17th and 18th streets
The street is closed in this one-block section due to work associated with construction of The Standard, a 240-plus-unit apartment complex being built on the southwest corner of 17th Street and White Avenue. The daytime closure will limit after-hour noise.
This section of White Avenue is scheduled to be open on Sunday, Dec. 20, then will close for three more days – Dec. 21-23 – before reopening again at 5 p.m. on Dec. 23.
North 20th Street
Until 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 18, a section of North 20th Street between Cumberland Avenue and White Avenue is closed as crews install a new sewer main. Alternate routes are 19th and 22nd streets.
The work is part of the City’s $17 million Cumberland Avenue reconstruction, which will change the existing four-lane street on the eastern end of the corridor to a three-lane cross section with a raised median and left-turn lanes at intersections between 22nd Street and 17th Street.
The nearly-completed Phase I work on the western end of Cumberland, between the Alcoa Highway ramps and 22nd Street, focused on improving traffic flow by synchronizing the signalization at Metron Center Way and adding a dedicated turn lane onto northbound Alcoa Highway.