As part of the City’s $5.8 million North Central Street streetscapes project, the intersection of North Central Street and North Broadway will be closed for 12 days, beginning at 6 a.m. on Monday, April 2.

The around-the-clock closure is required as Southern Constructors Inc. contractor crews install storm drainage infrastructure through the Central-Broadway intersection. The larger reinforced concrete pipes will increase the system’s stormwater capacity.



Traffic will be detoured around the intersection, which is scheduled to reopen by 6 p.m. Friday, April 13:

• Northbound commuters on Broadway will turn right onto East Fifth Avenue, then left onto Lamar Street to reconnect to northbound Broadway.

• Central Street northbound commuters will pick up East Fifth Avenue and follow the same route, reconnecting to Central north of the work zone by turning left off Broadway onto Bearden Place.

• Southbound commuters on Broadway will detour right onto Bearden Place, then turn left onto Central Street, then right onto Jennings Avenue and left onto Tyson Street to reconnect to southbound Broadway.

• Southbound commuters on Central will follow the same route, reconnecting to Central south of the work zone by turning left off Broadway onto East Fifth Avenue.


In addition, storm drainage infrastructure also is being installed this week on North Central Street between Third Avenue and North Broadway, requiring closures, one lane at a time, on Central, beginning at 6 a.m. Wednesday, March 28, and ending at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 29. One lane of traffic will be maintained at all times over these two days, with flag personnel and/or detour signs directing traffic around the work area.

The streetscapes project is replacing storm drains and stormwater pipes and repairing and constructing new sidewalks on North Central between West Depot Avenue and Woodland Avenue. A linear park is planned for the block of North Central Street between Baxter and Hinton avenues. 

Combined with Knoxville Utilities Board’s $1.85 million investment to upgrade gas lines, water main and fire hydrants through the 10-block area, the total public investment in the North Central Street Streetscapes Project is expected to total about $7.65 million.

The infrastructure upgrades include replacing some very old components. For example, KUB’s work included replacing a section of cast iron water main dating back to 1893. The City’s stormwater system improvements included, in one case, replacement of some pre-World War II clay pipe.

The KUB work is finished, and the City’s portion of the project – 80 percent funded by the Federal Highway Administration, with a 20 percent match in local funding by the City – is scheduled to be completed by early 2019. The linear park plantings will be done in either spring or fall 2019, depending on the pace of the infrastructure installation and the weather.

For more information on the North Central project, visit www.NorthCentralStreet.com. You also can sign up through the website to receive “look ahead” emails detailing the next two weeks of construction. Or text “ncentral” to 313131 to receive real-time text alert updates.