UPDATE June 4, 2018: The Knox County commission approved funding for a mobility study last week, according to Knoxville Regional Transportation executive director Jeff Welch.
The Knoxville-Knox County Metropolitan Planning Commission is now finalizing a contract with the selected consultant. The intention is to have the consultant begin work in July, Welch said. The first phase will be to create a stakeholders group and begin data collection.
Community meetings will not occur until early fall.
ORIGINAL STORY April 11, 2018: According to the Knoxville-Knox County Metropolitan Planning Commission, Hardin Valley and the northwest sector of the county is the fastest growing area in Knox County.
MPC data shows the population in that area has grown 3.9 percent over the past 27 years. It has been the fastest growing sector out of the 12 Knox County sectors for eight out of 11 past years. MPC data estimates about 13,500 people live in the Hardin Valley area, up from 4,750 in 1990.
"County wide, we're typically 1 percent to 1.5 percent just county wide, our growth has been historically, so this is double that of which we look at county wise, more than double that," Jeff Welch, the executive director of the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization, said.
Construction has also been part of the growth. According to the MPC, building in the northwest sector makes up one quarter of the county's building, which the MPC says is pre-recession level growth. County planners say residential building outranks commercial building in the area right now. About 272 homes are built annually according to the data.
A few area residents reached out to 10News with concerns about the area development's potential impact on traffic. Some of them said they plan to attend Thursday's MPC meeting to share their thoughts.
Welch said county planners are aware of traffic concerns and hope to get funding for a traffic study for the area by June.
"We've been working with TDOT to identify those issues at the interchanges," Welch said. "And there are projects on the books that TDOT will be implementing for the next 12 to 24 months that can offer some relief out there."