Oak Ridge Today

Council to receive briefing on Manhattan Project park from Park Service on Tuesday

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Niki-Nicholas-National-Park-Service

Niki Nicholas

The Oak Ridge City Council will receive a briefing on the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park on Tuesday.

The briefing by Niki Nicholas, superintendent of the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, will be during a Tuesday evening work session on January 21. It will follow a special 6 p.m. City Council meeting for boards and commissions elections in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom. (See the work session agenda here. See the special meeting agenda here.)

There will also be an orientation session next week for those interested in volunteering for the new park, which includes Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico. That orientation session starts at 10 a.m. Thursday, January 21, at the Midtown Community Center at 102 Robertsville Road. [Read more…]

City receives $433K grant for traffic signal, pedestrian improvements at two intersections

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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)

 

Oak Ridge has received a $433,000 grant for improvements at two intersections on Oak Ridge Turnpike, one at South Tulane Avenue and the other at East Division Road/Tennyson Road. The improvements, which require a 20 percent local match of roughly $108,000, will include marked crosswalks, ramps, and upgrades to help pedestrians.

The project will include traffic signal and pedestrian feature upgrades at the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Tulane Avenue, between the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce and Oak Ridge Municipal Building. The upgrades will include the addition of handicap ramps, crosswalks, countdown pedestrian signals with push buttons, and radar vehicle detection, Oak Ridge Community Development Director Kathryn Baldwin said in a December 1 memo to City Manager Mark Watson. A traffic signal pole will be relocated to avoid conflicts with overhead utilities.

Improvements at East Division Road/Tennyson Road, near Methodist Medical Center, will include the addition of handicap ramps, crosswalks, and countdown pedestrian signals with push buttons and radar vehicle detection. Sidewalks could be added where there are gaps or where new handicap ramps are disconnected from existing sidewalks, Baldwin said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge upgrades courtroom media equipment for City Council meetings

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Mark Watson

Mark Watson

With help from a contractor, the City of Oak Ridge has upgraded the media equipment in the Municipal Building Courtroom to provide a better viewing experience during televised City Council meetings.

The city contracted with M&M Productions USA of Oak Ridge in June to help with the broadcast upgrades, a press release said. Part of the upgrade included permanently mounting pan, tilt, and zoom (PTZ) high-definition, robotic cameras that would “provide for better viewing angles of City Council, city staff, and audience members during televised City Council meetings,” the release said.

This recent broadcasting upgrade further complements the audio and City Council voting equipment improvements that were completed in 2014 as a result of deteriorating equipment and Courtroom needs, the release said.

“The PTZ cameras provide for better area coverage and greater detail of City Council meetings,” Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said. “Additionally, there have been several broadcast efficiencies experienced with all of the media upgrades, not to mention that the upgraded equipment has added to the professional composition of the City Council meetings and the Courtroom.” [Read more…]