The 2026 Resurfacing Project is underway.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What does it mean if there are "No Parking For Paving" signs on my street?
When you see "No Parking For Paving" signs, it means that milling crews will begin grinding and removing the old surface of your street within 24 to 72 hours. This time frame may be extended due to emergency situations. Once the signs are posted, all vehicles and other structures must be removed from the road within 24 hours and should remain at least one foot away from the edge of the pavement to allow machinery to pass safely.
Will I be towed even if the signs go missing?
Yes. Any vehicles left on the road when milling crews arrive will be towed by KPD at the vehicle owner's expense. The placement of these signs is logged and photographed. Although signs may sometimes be stolen or discarded, this does not relieve owners of the responsibility to remove their vehicles from the public right-of-way before street improvements.
How long will it be until the road is paved?
After the road has been milled, paving crews will replace the road surface within two weeks. Please monitor this page to see where the crews are currently working.
How long before I can drive on the new road?
Paving crews will have flaggers on-site to guide traffic onto any surfaces that are safe for travel. It typically takes about 5 to 15 minutes for a location to be ready for traffic. However, if the roads are too narrow to allow traffic to pass the machinery or if traffic patterns are particularly heavy, delays could extend up to 30 minutes.
If you have stormwater drainage concerns or a street resurfacing request, please click here or dial 311 to report these issues.
CURRENT CONSTRUCTION STATUS
View Current Construction Status Of Streets To Be Resurfaced During The Current Year [PDF]
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The Citywide Resurfacing Program provides annual funding for maintaining and improving the City of Knoxville’s public streets. Paving work is distributed equitably across all six council districts. The program’s target resurfacing cycles are: arterials every 10 years, collectors every 15 years, and local streets every 20 years.
The Civil Engineering Division manages a comprehensive Pavement Management System that evaluates all city streets to determine resurfacing needs. This system uses advanced tools, such as laser-based surface testing, along with traffic data and environmental factors to calculate a pavement condition rating for each street. These ratings, combined with coordination efforts with utility companies and other City construction projects, guide the prioritization of resurfacing work.
Each winter, a list of streets slated for paving is developed, and a contractor is selected in the spring to complete the resurfacing for that year.
MAINTAINING THE STREETS THROUGH THE SEASONS
Weather that can’t make up its mind. Rain, ice, sleet, and snow. Salting components used to counter the winter weather. Rinse and repeat that cycle about ten times each winter.
It’s a rough life for a street. Add to that the millions of cars that pass over each year. Streets that receive a lot of truck traffic take an extra beating.
Many fall and winter seasons experience consistently low temperatures, but often our area goes back and forth between the sixties and the teens during this time. For asphalt roads, that can be worse than places with colder climates because of the constant expanding and contracting.
Age is another factor. Asphalt becomes brittle with age and the weight of passing traffic can start breaking it up. Surface cracks start to develop. These cracks provide an opportunity for water to penetrate the surface, leading to even bigger damage from freezing.
So, how are roads supposed to survive these conditions?
With more than 1,000 miles of roads to maintain, the City of Knoxville has an ongoing, multi-tiered plan to help keep Knoxville running smoothly.
POTHOLE PATCHING
Potholes typically form when asphalt expands and contracts due to temperature changes, allowing water to get under the sealed surface of the asphalt. East Tennessee’s wavering winters often open the door for that process to happen.
When the City receives a pothole complaint through its 311 call center, crews work to make the repair within 48 hours.
In ideal conditions, a permanent pothole patch can be applied. This means hot asphalt is placed on the pothole, pressed, and sealed.
However, when the temperatures are below freezing, hot asphalt may not be available. In order to repair roads as soon as possible, a “cold patch” is often used. It’s essentially a rocky mix with an adhesive component mixed in. These cold patches can wash out relatively quickly, making the road rough or even causing the entire pothole to return only after only a few weeks or months.
However, even in the deepest stretches of winter, Knoxville can have temperatures above freezing, allowing for permanent asphalt patches. Therefore, it’s always helpful to immediately report a pothole.
To report a pothole, please call 311 or 865-215-4311.
RESURFACING SCHEDULE
“While pothole patching is a good tool to keep the road from deteriorating, the road is never truly restored until the resurfacing process happens,” said Thomas V. Clabo, Director of the Engineering Department.
“Pothole patching is comparable to a cavity filling for the tooth,” said Clabo. “It prevents further damage, but once that enamel is compromised, there’s a likelihood that time and repetitive use will eventually catch up to it. Resurfacing the road is like giving a street its enamel back.”
The street resurfacing contract is one of the City’s largest ongoing capital projects, with $10.0 million dedicated toward the effort in the 2024/2025 fiscal budget. KUB contributes a varying percentage of that funding each year to cover repaving expenses after utility work. City Engineers work to resurface 48 miles each year.
Due to temperature constraints, streets are typically resurfaced between March and November in East Tennessee.
Along with regular inspections, City engineers use road classifications to help determine the resurfacing schedule.
View Current Construction Status Of Streets To Be Resurfaced During The Current Year [PDF]
MPC MAJOR ROAD PLAN
The Metropolitan Planning Commission has defined City of Knoxville roads under three categories in its Major Road Plan:
Arterials
City's goal is to resurface these every 10 years
Examples: Central Street, Cherry Street, Sutherland Avenue, Moody Avenue
Major Collectors
City's goal is to resurface these every 15 years
Examples: Deane Hill Drive, Inskip Road, Kimberlin Heights Road, Chilhowee Drive
Minor Collectors
City's goal is to resurface these every 20 years
Examples: Island Home Avenue, Hill Avenue, Magazine Road, Sheffield Drive, Edgewood Avenue
Local Streets
City's goal is to resurface these every 20 years
Minor streets, essentially neighborhood roads
Click
HERE to view a copy of the Knoxville-Knox County Major Road Plan and to see a list of the classification for every road in Knox County.
It should be noted that the annual resurfacing miles total does not include state highways located within the city limits (such as Northshore Drive, Kingston Pike, Chapman Highway, Asheville Highway, or Western Avenue).