Blog: City Blog

Healthy and Connected: Northwest Greenway Connector Is Now Open

Did you know that within a 3-mile radius of Victor Ashe Park, there are 73 miles of greenways and sidewalks?

In mid-June, connectivity within this network was greatly improved. Mayor Indya Kincannon, City Councilwoman Seema Singh and an enthusiastic gathering of greenway advocates cut a ceremonial ribbon and officially opened the $1.7 million Northwest Greenway Connector.

Completing this half-mile "missing link" strategically created countless new transportation options for hundreds of Northwest Knoxville families.

The Northwest Greenway Connector joins Western Avenue and Victor Ashe Park. More importantly, this connector links 8.9 miles of greenways and sidewalks around the park with another 7.2 miles of sidewalks on Western Avenue and Schaad Road.

Greenways are great places for reconnecting with nature, or for getting a little exercise. But more and more, people are using greenways as a means of transportation to get to schools, businesses, churches and retailers - and the completion of the Northwest Greenway Connector opens up all kinds of new possibilities.

And as Mayor Kincannon said at the ribbon-cutting: "We’re not done yet!"

At the southern end of this connector is a 500-foot-long pedestrian bridge over Western Avenue, funded and built by the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

At first, some people may have wondered, why did the state spend $3 million on this pedestrian bridge? What does it connect?

That will become apparent by next year, as the bridge will get pedestrians and bicyclists safely over and across Western as the City moves on to Phase 2 of the Northwest Greenway Connector project.

This next phase will extend the greenway by 1¼ miles to Middlebrook Pike. The City is proceeding with acquiring easements, and construction of the next segment to Middlebrook will begin in 2023.

Great work by the whole construction and design team on the section that was just completed!

Project designer: Barge Design Solutions

Construction contractor: Adams Contracting

City Engineering: Professional Civil Engineer Amanda Koenig; Inspector Martin Bradley; Construction Project Manager Pete Gerlach; Surveyor Crew Leaders Rusty Matthews and Craig Pryputniewicz

Also, Public Service and Horticulture crews helped with late modifications to one of the turns - thank you, Chris Webster, Steve Ogle and Josh Roberts!

Posted by evreeland On 14 July, 2022 at 12:05 PM