August 22, 2014 - Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch announced traffic enforcement plans for the Labor Day holiday weekend. The specialized traffic enforcement effort will begin at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, August 29, 2014, and conclude at Midnight on Monday, September 1, 2014.

Several major events occurring in downtown Knoxville will result in an extremely busy holiday for both residents and tourists. In addition to several-hundred thousand people attending the University of Tennessee football game and the Boomsday fireworks show, we can also expect an increase of motorists traveling through Knoxville as they take one last summer vacation.

Chief Rausch said, "Traditionally, one of the biggest challenges for the department is facilitating traffic flow in and out of the UT area for football traffic as well as traffic in the downtown area for the fireworks show. This is exacerbated by several road closures required for both of these downtown special events."

Road closures are as follows:

Henley Street Bridge will close on Friday night at 10:00 p.m. All lanes of the Henley Street Bridge will reopen Sunday morning All lanes of West Bound Neyland Drive from Walnut to Lake Loudoun Boulevard will close at 7:00 p.m. Friday and will remain closed until Sunday morning One lane of East Bound Neyland Drive from Walnut to Lake Loudoun will remain open until 7:00 a.m. Saturday The Gay Street Bridge will close to all vehicular and pedestrian traffic by 9:00 p.m. on Saturday The Gay Street bridge will reopen immediately following the fireworks show James White Parkway at Cumberland Avenue will close at 3:00 p.m. Saturday and will remain closed until Sunday morning

For the UT football game, parking on the UT campus will remain off limits except for individuals with parking passes. KAT busses will provide rides from the Civic Coliseum parking garages for a small fee. No parking will be allowed along Neyland Drive.

Chief Rausch said, "Officers will utilize directed and saturation patrols to reduce the speed of motorists traveling throughout the city. We will aggressively enforce posted speed limits while looking for motorists who are driving recklessly or who are driving impaired."

During the 2013 Labor Day holiday traffic enforcement effort officers issued 1,576 traffic related citations. Officers also investigated 75 vehicle crashes. Sixteen (16) of those crashes resulted in personal injuries. One fatality was recorded during this time. Fourteen (14) motorists were arrested for DUI.

Chief Rausch said, "The best advice to motorists would be to exercise patience while travelling in the heavily congested UT and downtown areas. We would also ask that motorists be alert for our officers directing traffic especially after dark when visibilities are reduced."