Before the I-40 Downtown bottleneck gets better, it’s only going to get worse. TDOT has outlined the entire project on their site and are even providing high-tech web cameras to publicize the progress.
To help better answer the question, “what the heck is going on with I-40”, Don Jacobs of the News Sentinel has launched his Navigating SmartFIX40 blog. Don writes:
To help drivers and the community better understand the most expensive highway project in the state’s history, I am fielding questions about the SmartFIX40 project that for 14 months will change the way people get around Knoxville.
If you don’t make it over there today, you’ll have 14 months to visit it later.
5 Responses to “Interstate 40 is About to Go Crazy; Read This Blog”
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Missybw
March 27th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
We are stuck right in the middle of the mess. Sometimes living downtown isn’t so convenient. Now if somebody would just move Turkey Creek closer to downtown and put in a Macys, well that’d be just superyduper! That’s a smartfix I can get behind!
CK
March 28th, 2008 at 10:57 am
I had posted an article at the Wigshop last month analyzing the “SmartFix.” The problem is holistic- two four lanes are intersecting I-40 at basically the same place: Hall of Fame and James White. An interstate interchange takes up a lot of land, and when you have TWO… you get the traffic engineer gymnastics that are building a huge artificial hill and deep lane pits- all so the double interchange can coil over itself on four layers.
SmartFix? I think not.
Get rid of James White. That’s the elephant in the room that no one is addressing in this whole scenario.
CP
March 28th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Good analysis CK. Most don’t think about James White Parkway.
Missybw
March 28th, 2008 at 11:20 am
We use James White, but only because it’s connected to the equally useless South Knox Connector and that provides us with a quick route into our neighborhood that doesn’t involve either Henley or Gay. That’s the only thing it’s good for though.
CK
March 31st, 2008 at 10:59 am
I think that the James White bridge is still somewhat useful, but instead of hanging a hard right at first creek and going up a dedicated freeway, South Knoxvillians could just turn right at a (hypothetical) new intersection onto Hall of Fame Dr. (at the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame). Then they could still get to I40 with only a few more minutes of drive time.