After months of input, planning and preparation, the new downtown trolley routes are going to begin on Monday, May 2... on detour.

The closure of the intersection of Locust Street at Cumberland will cause all three of the new trolley routes – the Blue Line, Orange Line and Green Line – to detour over to Henley Street and a temporary transfer point will be established on Main Street in front of the City County Building. The detour is expected to last through Tuesday, May 3.

“Growth and change are great, but can sometimes come with challenges,” says Dawn Distler, the City of Knoxville’s Director of Transit. “Our KAT team and the City’s Traffic Engineering Department have been working together to come up with an alternative plan for our opening days. We appreciate the public’s patience next week.”

Affected stops include those at the UT Conference Center and others along Locust Street and new Orange Line trolley stops along Walnut Street. The Old City, The University of Tennessee, and east areas of downtown are not affected, though the time schedule could be compromised with the detour.

The Green Line Trolley has an additional detour around Gay Street’s 700-Block through the end of that construction as well.

All trolley stop signs that are affected by the detour will have detour information posted on them, indicating the nearest location to catch the trolley.

Click here to view the new trolley map in PDF format.