The entrance to the University Commons shopping center from Cumberland Avenue will be closed from 7:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. tonight and tomorrow night, so that construction crews can work on stormwater quality devices and manhole access.

University Commons will still be accessible from Joe Johnson Drive, via Neyland Drive. 

All eastbound lanes of Cumberland Avenue are currently closed for the one-block section between University Commons and West Volunteer Boulevard. That closure is scheduled to be completed by Aug. 1, allowing for the installation of a new 42-inch stormwater line approximately 12 feet below the roadway.

Another closure of University Commons Way at Cumberland Avenue is planned for next week from Monday through Thursday to accommodate the tie-in work for the stormwater line.  

The work is part of the City of Knoxville’s Cumberland Avenue Corridor Project, an initiative to redesign Cumberland Avenue from Alcoa Highway east to 17th Street, changing 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, pedestrian-friendly corridor.

Construction is proceeding in two phases, with Phase I (from Alcoa Highway to 22nd Street) to be completed by the end of 2015, and Phase II (from 22nd Street to just east of 17th Street) scheduled for completion in August 2017.

For more information, regular updates and special offers from area merchants, see www.cumberlandconnect.com.