Rogers Group operator Randy Wilkerson dumps gravel for a sidewalk in front of DoubleTree Hotel on South Illinois Avenue as laborer Dustin Hawkins spreads it.
Money from Oak Ridge’s four traffic camera systems is being used to build five new sections of sidewalk along South Illinois and Jefferson avenues.
The city is using roughly $217,000 from a special programs fund set up for the traffic camera money to build the sidewalks and install crosswalks, pavement markings, and pedestrian push buttons at traffic lights, Oak Ridge City Engineer Steve Byrd said.
The Oak Ridge City Council approved the work in April.
Work started about June 1 and should be complete by Aug. 1, Byrd said.
Most of the projects were included in a bicycle and pedestrian plan approved by City Council in April 2011, Byrd said.
The roughly 1,700 feet of new sidewalks includes sections in front of Comfort Inn on Rutgers Avenue, two strips where South Illinois Avenue intersects with Tuskegee Drive and Scarboro Road, and a small 120-foot section on Jefferson Avenue at Oak Ridge Turnpike.
The longest new sidewalk is in front of DoubleTree Hotel on South Illinois Avenue. It’s 580 feet long, Byrd said.
The Oak Ridge Pedestrian Improvement Project will also include a change in the right-hand turn lane for eastbound drivers on Oak Ridge Turnpike at South Illinois Avenue.
That turn lane is now “free flowing,†meaning drivers don’t have to stop. But it has a very short acceleration lane, and drivers turning right there will soon be required to stop before turning right there—or else wait for the green light, Byrd said.
There will also be a raised “refuge island” for pedestrians at the northeast corner of the intersection, Byrd said.
Oak Ridge’s four traffic camera systems are installed on North Illinois Avenue at Robertsville Road, on Robertsville Road in front of Willow Brook Elementary School, and on Oak Ridge Turnpike in front of the high school and at New York Avenue. The cameras began operating in the summer of 2009.
T J says
What was the other $2 million used for?
John Huotari says
TJ, I think I know what about $1 million of that was used for, but not the rest. I’ll try to check for you. John
Mare Martell says
I realize that the major thoroughfares have to have sidewalks for the pedestrians, and I’m glad they’re using some of the money they’ve raped from the public to help them. But, they apparently didn’t heed the words sent to them via their website that requested the horrible conditions of the sidewalks along W. Outer and the sidewalks in the Highland View neighborhood.
While I was driving yesterday, I had to pull into oncoming traffic because a gentleman in a wheelchair couldn’t travel down the sidewalks or get to his destination because of the conditions. WHY? Because they are so overgrown, loose gravel, and outrageously sloped, that’s why. Perhaps another letter is deemed necessary.
Sarah Johnson says
Mare, I have noticed the same problem in my neighborhood with the overgrown sidewalks, glass, cracked sidewalks, and litter. I live in the Highland View neighborhood and have noticed some work being done which is good. Another HUGE problem I have when walking with my children to the park is that where the sidewalks stop and you have to cross the streets in two separate parts it is totally DANGEROUS to cross because of the hills and being unable to see SPEEDING oncoming traffic. There are many police officers in my neighborhood at all time and I am happy to see them because there are violent people walking the streets but I have noticed on many occasions police officers speeding WAY too fast without lights on and I worry for the children that are up the street crossing at all times of the day around a blind hill. PLEASE slow down Oak Ridgers. Our children need to be safe this summer and all year round crossing the streets.