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Creating Truly Safer Streets

Seth LaJeunesse, Assistant Director of the National Center for Safe Routes to School, visited Knoxville for three events on Nov. 27 and 28, 2018, to discuss how we can begin to put an end to traffic deaths.

Seth shared information about how street design, cultural expectations, and individual behavior work together to create safe – or unsafe – streets and communities.

More than 100 people attended the events, which included a workshop for design staff on Nov. 27; a public event that evening; and a lunch presentation before elected and appointed officials at the Knoxville Chamber on Nov. 28.

Seth was the 10th speaker in the Active Knox series, which is funded through a grant from the Tennessee Department of Health.

If you’d like to receive emails about the events, email ellen.zavisca@knoxplanning.org.

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Knoxville on “Best Bike Cities in America” List

Knoxville is ranked #49 on the "Best Bike Cities in America" list!

The City of Knoxville currently has about 17 total miles of bicycle lanes, which is more than triple what it was in 2012. That progress is continuing, with 2.4 additional miles scheduled for completion before the end of this year.

Moving forward with comprehensive plans outlined in the City's 2015 Bicycle Facilities Plan and the 2016 Greenways Feasibility Study will allow Knoxville to continue to provide a good experience for urban bicyclists. And hopefully the city will continue to rise on this list!

Read more and find out how other cities ranked!

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Minimum Three in Tennessee

The City of Knoxville, Knoxville Police Department, and Bike Walk Knoxville recently launched the “Minimum Three in Tennessee” campaign, promoting awareness of the Three Foot Law.
This law requires drivers to maintain a distance of three feet when passing bicycles. As part of a research effort funded by the National Highway Safety Administration, the Knoxville Police Department received devices that measure the distance between bicycles and passing cars. Officers with these devices are alerted when a vehicle passes with less than three feet between them and the bicycle. Enforcement of the law is important. Current data shows that 5% of motorists passing bicyclists in Knoxville are less than three feet away. Of those violations, 60% are less than two feet away, and 46% are less than a foot-and-a-half.
Based on these numbers, every time a bicyclists rides, he or she is passed dangerously close at least once.
To see how the campaign is going thus far, check out the City’s blog, or learn more about the study from coverage of the press conference announcing it.
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PARK(ing) Day

PARK(ing) Day is an internationally recognized event that occurs annually in cities large and small.
Individuals and groups transform parking spaces into pocket parks and parklets. The mission of PARK(ing) Day is to call attention to the need for more quality urban open space for people, to generate critical debate around how public space is created and allocated, and to improve the quality of the urban human habitat. In short, it is a day to reimagine those areas for people instead of cars. If we designed them for people, would they be asphalt? Or would there be trees, grass, and flowers with places to sit and things to do? PARK(ing) Day was held on September 19, and a local group organized the Knoxville event so that participants could reserves spaces along Gay Street. With 50 parking spaces reserved, creative uses for the parking spots lined the busy downtown street, drawing attention from passersby and those patronizing local retail and restaurant establishments. Find out more about the event from this Inside of Knoxville article, and check out photos from the event from the group’s Facebook event and a follow-up photo essay from Inside of Knoxville!
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Public Review and Comment for: Proposed Mobilty Plan 2040 and FY 2017-2020 TIP Amendments with Air Quality Conformity Determination

The TPO is initiating a 30-day public review and comment period from September 24, 2018 to October 24, 2018 for proposed amendments to the 2040 Mobility Plan and the Fiscal Years 2017-2020 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).

These amendments required an updated air quality conformity determination, which is also made available for public review. 

Please refer to the items below and provide any questions or comments to Mike Conger with TPO staff at: mike.conger@knoxplanning.org. Additionally, public comments may be made at the TPO Technical Committee meeting on Tuesday, October 16, 2018, or at the TPO Executive Board meeting on Wednesday, October 24, 2018. Both meetings are held at 9 a.m. in the City-County Building, 400 Main Street, Knoxville, TN. The Technical Committee will meet in the Small Assembly Room and the Executive Board will meet in the Main Assembly Room.

The online, interactive map to view Mobility Plan transportation projects has been updated to reflect the amendments.