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Knoxville-Knox County Planning holding community meeting over Hardin Valley traffic study

"The growth here is something that has been welcomed. All that we have been asking for the last couple of years is for the growth to be met by infrastructure improvement."

KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — Hardin Valley is a booming area in Northwest Knox County, and with the added residents and businesses also comes more traffic.

The Hardin Valley Planning Advocates founder Kim Frazier says the growth is good, but the roads and sidewalks need to be re-examined.

"Hardin Valley has grown so quickly that it has outpaced the infrastructure needs, and so a traffic mobility study will highlight some of those needs, particularly in the road improvements," Frazier explained.

Knox County and the Metropolitan Planning Commission granted the community's wish of starting a traffic and mobility study, and it officially started back in Sept. 2018. 

Hundreds of people have participated in the survey. So far, the study has revealed a variety of issues including heavy traffic and congestion, access and safety concerns.

Knoxville-Knox County Planning is holding a planning meeting 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Hardin Valley Academy gym to take public input on improving both traffic and safety in the area.

"We want to also hear about additional problems, so that what we'll take from this meeting Tuesday night is to identify possible solutions that work toward prioritizing a set of solutions to present to the county commission later this spring," Jeff Welch with the planning commission said.

Hardin Valley Middle School Principal Cory Smith says the community is not just hoping to alleviate the traffic problem, but also add some safety measures to ensure the people living and working in the area as well as students stay safe.

"All of this is safety for obviously the students, you know that's my focus, but you know safety for community members at large. There's a lot of traffic that goes through this area now and it increases every year," Smith explained.

The main areas of concern are Hardin Valley Road and the Pellissippi Parkway intersection on the road. While school is in session, traffic is worse during drop-off and pickup times.

Jonathan Ward is a co-owner of Anytime Fitness in Hardin Valley, and says the traffic may be bad, but it's all a part of the process.

"As a growing community, there's going to be some growing pains along the way," Ward said.

Kevin Crateau is a parent who lives in Hardin Valley who says he loves Hardin Valley, and he just wants to see it get better.

"The growth here is something that has been welcomed. All that we have been asking for the last couple of years is for the growth to be met by infrastructure improvement," Crateau said.

According to Frazier, the study will last about seven months. First, surveyors will be in the area gathering data and doing research, the surveyors will talk with community groups, and then the needs for the area will be examined.

Just because the study is being completed does not guarantee the changes will happen. The community will have to continue to lobby for their cause.

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