KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Construction has started on the $1.6 million Northwest Greenway Connector, a key half-mile stretch of trail between Victor Ashe Park and the pedestrian bridge spanning Western Avenue at Ball Camp Pike.
Officials expect the project to be completed in spring 2022.
The Northwest Greenway Connector will link the 8.9 miles of connected pedestrian options (greenways and sidewalks) around the park with another 7.2-mile network of sidewalks on Western Avenue and Schaad Road, according to a press release. Within a three-mile radius of Victor Ashe Park, there’s a total of 73 miles of greenways and sidewalks.
Click here for a map showing the route of the greenway connector.
Through the end of 2021, a section of Ball Camp Pike between Western Avenue and Bradshaw Road will be closed as crews with Adams Contracting build the connector and install drainage infrastructure on the north side of the pike, officials said.
The Northwest Greenway Connector is anchored its southern end by a $3 million 500-foot-long pedestrian bridge that crosses Western Avenue. The bridge was funded and built by the state.
City officials plan to extend the greenway southward to connect Western Avenue at the pedestrian bridge to Middlebrook Pike and on to the Third Creek Greenway.
Phase II work is fully funded and in the design stage. Bids are scheduled to be sought in winter 2023 with construction on Phase II beginning in 2024, a press release stated.
