Starting at 6 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 21, and continuing until 6 a.m. Monday, Nov. 23, Cumberland Avenue will be closed between North 19th Street and 20th Street as crews install sewer system infrastructure.

Westbound motorists for those two days will be detoured using 19th Street to Clinch Avenue to 22nd Street. Eastbound motorists will follow the same detour route in reverse order.

Also, KUB’s contractor, Southern Constructors, will implement a second road closure as part of the sewer system upgrades. Today through 6 a.m. Monday, Nov. 23, South 19th Street will be closed between Cumberland Avenue and Lake Avenue.
 
These two road closures are part of Phase II of the City of Knoxville’s overall $17 million Cumberland Avenue reconstruction. Phase II, to be completed in August 2017, will change the existing four-lane street to a three-lane cross section with a raised median and left-turn lanes at intersections between 22nd Street and 17th Street.

Meanwhile, Phase I work – improving traffic flow between the Alcoa Highway ramps and 22nd Street – is coming to a close. Last Friday, Nov. 13, barrels were removed and all five lanes of traffic reopened.

On Thursday, Nov. 19, the last lane in the Phase I area is being repaved, so anticipate some lane shifts overnight Thursday and into Friday.

In both the Phase I and Phase II projects, Cumberland Avenue sidewalks are being widened, and utility lines relocated, to create a more attractive, safer, pedestrian-friendly corridor. Utility infrastructure is being updated.

Unrelated to the City’s Cumberland Avenue project: From 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20, through 9 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22, White Avenue will be closed between 20th and 21st streets. A crane used in the construction of a new East Tennessee Children’s Hospital building is being dismantled.