KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — In a little over a year, thousands of people will watch the first pitch thrown in a new downtown Knoxville stadium to kick off the 2025 Smokies Baseball season.
While construction is ongoing, there are questions about the congestion in the Old City and downtown area. As of now, there are no plans to build additional parking. City leaders want people to use rideshare, bikes or walk to the stadium instead of driving their cars to it.
Bike-Walk Knoxville is proposing an idea for bike parking at the stadium. They brought it up in the Knox Sports Authority meeting in February. The board said Doug Kirchhofer, the CEO of Boyd Sports, and the bike advocacy group would discuss the idea.
Matthew Zingg, the Operations Director for Two Bikes Old City, said this is a good idea — especially since parking is limited downtown.
"I would love to be able to ride my bike safely with my son and my wife, and be able to lock my bike up in a safe place," Zingg said.
Dustin Durham says he tries to bike as much as he can. He is on the board for Bike Walk Knoxville and said the city should invest in bike-friendly infrastructure in general.
"At the end of the day, it's a financial security thing to invest in bike infrastructure," Durham said. "I don't want us to build our city where we're forcing people to rely on a car because if that car breaks down and you have to drop $300, $400, that messes with people's upward mobility."
Cyclists also say it's good for the environment, and for the community, to have more people biking as a mode of transportation. Many said the city should invest in safety measures to make places more bike-friendly.
"At the end of the day, if I don't have anywhere to safely chain up my bike, then I'm not gonna feel comfortable taking it," Durham said.
Caroline Cooley, the president of BikeWalk Knoxville, said Kirchhofer has been out of town. They expect to talk more about the idea soon.
"There's not much cost if you have space," Cooley said. "Space is the big consideration. The racks are not terribly expensive."