The weekly meeting was held today to discuss construction issues related to the Streetscapes project. It was determined that the subcontrcator will require an additional night to complete the electrical work in the ROW of Summit Hill. A press release will go out today announcing the closure of Summit Hill on Thursday, Feb. 26 from 9pm until 6am. We have been assured that this will complete this work.
In an abundance of caution, we dicussed at length possible soil contaimination and steps we may need to take to rectify any situations we may have.You may have noticed the dirt we have been stockpiling on the Jackson parking site for this reason until further testing determines our course of action. We will likely subcontract a testing agency to bore holes in the 100 Block so we can know what issues we may face there. More on this as it develops.
You will probably notice a bit of work being done at State and Gay between the 100 and 200 blocks as we begin to make decisions about the electrical vault that is to be placed. Several utilities are in that immediate area and we are trying to find a way to get this work done with as little impact as possible. We will be bagging a couple of parking meters to give some room and providing traffic control around that worksite.
A sign has been placed, as many may have noticed, at the intersection of S.Gay Street and Jackson, stating 'Road Closed to through Traffic'. We are hopeful that this will allow our detours to work better while allowing folks to continue to use the 100 Block as they always have.
Some have commented on parking issues and we are taking steps to address some of those issues. Engineering is checking the meters to make sure they are working properly and we are discussing timing on taking out those meters entirely. I have discussed with Contractors the issue of employee parking and hopefully that will work itself out.
The issue of security for the worksite as well as Jackson Avenue is also under discussion.
Lastly, signage is being discussed and a sign should go up shortly on Summit Hill at the 200 Block of Gay with an arrow pointing to 100 Block businesses.
More extensive signage is being planned as well in conjuction with the CBID. A meeting is being planned in the next week or so to more fully explore what those signs may look like.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Streetscapes update meeting
The City of Knoxville has scheduled a meeting to provide updates as to progress and to get feedback on the Streetscapes project. This meeting is set for March 3, 2009 at 6:00pm at the Emporium.
Representatives from City Engineering , KUB, Southern Constructors, City Policy and Communication, and KPD will be on hand to discuss any issues.
Please pass the word to anyone that might have an interest.
Representatives from City Engineering , KUB, Southern Constructors, City Policy and Communication, and KPD will be on hand to discuss any issues.
Please pass the word to anyone that might have an interest.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Let Us Know
I hope everyone takes advantage of this opportunity to keep up with this complex and difficult project and to let us know how we can make this as painless as possible. Again, thanks for hanging in there with us.
200 Block of Gay Street sidewalk
The sidewalk along the west side of the 200 Block of Gay Street is reopened after a misunderstanding with the Contractor. We had discussed allowing the Contractor to rebuild this portion of the sidewalk at some point as part of this initial utility work. However, we always intended for a least one of the sidewalks to be open at all times.
A sign has been ordered to direct folks to the businesses on the 100 block of Gay Street through this area as well and should be going up soon.
This first week of construction has been challenging as the City of Knoxville and Southern Constructors are just now able to begin to understand the exact issues. For instance, in digging up the old trolley rails which exist in each lane, we uncovered creosote soaked timbers which could create possible environmental issues. This work was being done in order to install a large electrical vault.
The soil in the bottom of the excavation must have the correct soils for the placement of the vault which weighs several tons. Soil at this level was wet and an undiscovered leak was found in the KUB water line which had to be repaired before work could proceed.
We will try to keep information posted on this blog as current as possible.
We thank everyone for their continued patience on the complicated but much needed project.
A sign has been ordered to direct folks to the businesses on the 100 block of Gay Street through this area as well and should be going up soon.
This first week of construction has been challenging as the City of Knoxville and Southern Constructors are just now able to begin to understand the exact issues. For instance, in digging up the old trolley rails which exist in each lane, we uncovered creosote soaked timbers which could create possible environmental issues. This work was being done in order to install a large electrical vault.
The soil in the bottom of the excavation must have the correct soils for the placement of the vault which weighs several tons. Soil at this level was wet and an undiscovered leak was found in the KUB water line which had to be repaired before work could proceed.
We will try to keep information posted on this blog as current as possible.
We thank everyone for their continued patience on the complicated but much needed project.
Summit Hill Road closure
Summit Hill will be closed February 23-25 for utility work associated with the City of Knoxville Streetscapes Project from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am. This closure had been reported with hours of 7:00Pm until 6:00 am but after discussion with business owners in the area, the decision was made to close the road at 9:00 pm instead.
The original projected timeline was to close certain lanes of Summit Hill for this work for a 2- 4 week period.
The original projected timeline was to close certain lanes of Summit Hill for this work for a 2- 4 week period.
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