Knoxville Area Transit (KAT) is proposing several service changes, pending approval by the Knoxville Transportation Authority (KTA), as well as approval of Mayor Madeline Rogero’s budget by City Council.  These proposals would improve access to the Change Center, set to open later this year, as well as provide new, direct grocery store access for residents along Route 12 – Western Avenue.  A summary of the changes are as follows:

Route 12 – Western Avenue: New service directly to the Food City in Mechanicsville; New service directly to The Change Center at 203 Harriet Tubman Street; No service to I-640 Plaza but a new transfer with Route 90 – Crosstown to provide immediate connections on to I-640 Plaza.

Route 22 – Broadway: Complete and consistent routing to Garden Drive, Jacksboro and Essary into the evening, weekdays and Saturdays.

Route 34 – Burlington: Weekday service every 30-minutes and one additional evening trip departing at 10:15 p.m.; One additional evening trip on Saturdays departing at 10:15 p.m.; New Sunday service hourly, 8:15 a.m. – 8:15 p.m.

Route 90 – Crosstown: New transfer point location with Route 12 – Western with minor route change, weekdays and Saturdays

Detailed proposal information can be found in a variety of locations including at katbus.com, at Knoxville Station’s Customer Service Counter or by calling 637-3000.

“These are exciting proposals,” says Dawn Distler, the City’s Director of Transit. “Our Route 12 – Western reaches over 6,000 of Knoxville’s youth within ¼ mile, so getting them straight to the Change Center will make it easy for them to enjoy what promises to be an amazing facility.”  The Change Center is a new 20,000-square-foot youth facility – jointly funded by the City and more than 3,300 private donors – that will house a skating rink, climbing wall, Hard Knox Pizza café, recording studio and more, in addition to offering job and mentoring opportunities. The Center is expected to open by the end of 2017.

With the closure of the grocery store at I-640 Plaza at the end of March, KAT conducted a survey of Route 12 passengers which reinforced the importance of a grocery store along the route.  Distler states, “Food City’s executive team worked closely and quickly with us to continue to provide direct grocery store access to the neighborhoods along Route 12 with the closure of the grocery at I-640 Plaza.  We are grateful to them.”

KAT is encouraging the public to comment. The Knoxville Transportation Authority will hold a public hearing on the proposed changes on Thursday, May 25, 2017 at 3:00 p.m. in the City County Building’s Main Assembly Room, 400 Main Street.  The public can also comment by going to katbus.com and clicking on “Contact Us”, calling 637-3000 or writing to KAT at 301 Church Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37915.