A $433,000 grant awarded to the City of Oak Ridge would be used to make traffic signal and pedestrian improvements at two intersections on Oak Ridge Turnpike, including at South Tulane Avenue. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
There will be a public meeting in November to discuss pedestrian safety improvements on Oak Ridge Turnpike.
The meeting is scheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday, November 10, at the Central Services Complex at 100 Woodbury Lane (behind the Hobby Lobby/Kmart shopping center). The meeting will include a project overview and public input session, a City of Oak Ridge press release said.
The pedestrian safety improvements are being designed for Oak Ridge Turnpike (State Route 95) at Tulane Avenue and East Division/Tennyson roads.
“These upgrades are necessary to improve accessibility and provide a safe transportation link for people in the area,” the press release said.
The press release said the intersection improvements will include:
- Traffic signal and pedestrian feature upgrades
- New accessibility ramps
- Longitudinal crosswalks
- Countdown pedestrian signals with push buttons
- Radar vehicle detection
- Relocation of a mast arm signal pole
- New sidewalks (which will be connected to the existing ones)
“Members of the community are encouraged to attend,” the press release said.
If you are unable to attend the meeting and wish to comment on the project, you can email your comments to PubWorksDis@oakridgetn.gov.
A $433,000 grant for the improvements was announced in December 2015. The improvements require a 20 percent local match of roughly $108,000, Oak Ridge Today reported then.
At the time, Oak Ridge Community Development Director Kathryn Baldwin said the two intersections were chosen to help encourage safe pedestrian connections between the north and south sides of Oak Ridge Turnpike near Methodist Medical Center (at Tennyson Road) and the redevelopment at Main Street Oak Ridge (at Tulane Avenue).
There are also pedestrians who use the intersections from Oak Ridge High School, nearby church and medical facilities, retail shops and restaurants, and homes and multifamily housing, Baldwin said.
The $432,960 grant awarded to the city is a Transportation Alternatives Program, or TAP, award from the Tennessee Department of Transportation. It was awarded during the September 23, 2015, board meeting of the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
A $433,000 grant awarded to the City of Oak Ridge would be used to help make traffic signal and pedestrian improvements at two intersections on Oak Ridge Turnpike, including at East Division Road/Tennyson Road. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
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