Within budget and slightly ahead of schedule, the City’s new $1.2 million Mineral Springs Avenue bridge and sidewalk have opened – just in time to complement a new nearby sidewalk project getting underway soon.

The new 68-foot-long concrete bridge, between North Broadway and Walker Boulevard in North Knoxville, replaced a 52-foot-long bridge constructed in 1910.

The new bridge has a larger opening beneath the deck to reduce First Creek flooding, and the project also enhanced walkability. There’s a new sidewalk connecting Broadway and Walker Boulevard, plus about 350 linear feet of a new 10-foot-wide greenway connector.

This pedestrian infrastructure on the east side of Broadway will tie directly into a $1.6 million City project on the west side of Broadway that begins this summer: The City is building or improving 3,800 linear feet of sidewalk on Old Broadway.

The Old Broadway sidewalks will provide pedestrians and bicyclists a safe detour around the dense traffic hub where Broadway and Interstate 640 intersect. And now, with the new Mineral Springs Avenue bridge and sidewalk, southbound pedestrians and riders on Old Broadway can cross Broadway at Mineral Springs and more safely access destinations to the east of Broadway, and vice versa.

McKinnon Construction Co. will be constructing the Old Broadway sidewalks. Jones Brothers Construction completed the Mineral Springs Avenue bridge.