Oak Ridge Today

Council unanimously approves $150,000 contract for Jackson Square work

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Jackson Square Revitalization

A concept plan by Benefield Richters of Knoxville for the $1 million revitalization of historic Jackson Square in Oak Ridge.

After a brief discussion Monday, the Oak Ridge City Council unanimously agreed to award a $150,000 contract to a company that will help in the first phase of a $1 million project to redevelop Jackson Square, the city’s original town center.

The contract for design services was awarded to Vaughn and Melton Consulting Engineering Inc. of Knoxville. V&M will help with services ranging from deed research and field surveys to preliminary plans and construction estimates.

Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said V&M has helped with the redevelopment of Gay Street in Knoxville.

The work is part of a project funded with help from a Tennessee Department of Transportation Enhancement Grant that was announced by Gov. Bill Haslam in Jackson Square in June 2012.

[Read more…]

Council accepts $480,000 grant for railway museum at K-25

Posted at
By 2 Comments

Southern Appalachia Railway Museum Building

A plan for the proposed Southern Appalachia Railway Museum at Heritage Center, the former K-25 site. (Submitted image)

Although they had concerns about potential worst-case scenarios, Oak Ridge City Council members on Monday unanimously agreed to accept a state grant worth up to $480,000 for construction of a railway museum at Heritage Center, a project first proposed more than a decade ago.

By approving the resolution, Council also authorized the city to enter into a construction management agreement with the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee and Heritage Center LLC. That agreement calls for CROET and Heritage to offer the 20 percent local match required under the grant, or $120,000, as well as associated construction management services.

[Read more…]

TDOT employee resigns after crash, DUI arrest in Oak Ridge

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

A Tennessee Department of Transportation employee who worked in Oak Ridge resigned Thursday after he was charged with driving under the influence following a police investigation of a crash at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Louisiana Avenue on Friday, Feb. 1, officials said.

Police said William Hays Halbert, 56, of Knoxville, had been driving a state-owned 2010 Ford F150 pickup truck, but he had slurred speech and bloodshot, watery eyes, according to an affidavit filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court. Halbert smelled like alcohol and appeared to be confused, and he had a hard time following directions, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Garrett L. Robbins wrote in the affidavit.

[Read more…]

Construction work starts on Centrifuge Way interchange

Posted at
By 3 Comments

Centrifuge Way Interchange Improvements

Construction work has started on a $1 million state project to improve the interchange at South Illinois Avenue and Centrifuge Way in Oak Ridge.

Construction work has started on a $1.2 million state project to improve the interchange at Centrifuge Way and South Illinois Avenue, or State Route 62.

The work started Nov. 14 and could be complete by June 15, said Mark Nagi, Tennessee Department of Transportation spokesman.

The work is being done by J&M Grading Division LLC of Friendsville under a $1.165 million contract, Nagi said.

The work includes building three detention ponds that will be used as sediment basins during construction, reconfiguring the interchange, and extending Centrifuge Way, which was formerly known as Boeing Road.

[Read more…]

Railway museum still on track

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Wheat Train Depot

Nonprofit volunteers are scrambling to ensure they can use a state grant to build a railway museum next to the Wheat boarding station, pictured in center background, at the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge.

Plans for a railway museum in west Oak Ridge are still on track, volunteers said Monday.

It had recently appeared that the decade-old proposal could derail. During its Sept. 10 meeting, the Oak Ridge City Council agreed to give City Manager Mark Watson permission to send a letter to the Tennessee Department of Transportation, asking them to keep the $480,000 grant for the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum at the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge.

But during a Monday night City Council meeting, Watson said he hasn’t sent the letter yet. And board members of the nonprofit SARM said they are working quickly, hoping to assure the city manager of the project’s long-term sustainability.

The board members said the museum’s size has been reduced to 3,600 square feet and its estimated cost has been lowered to less than $900,000. They’re working on a plan for interior displays at the museum, completed basic environmental permitting, and expect to meet a Nov. 1 state deadline.

“We’ve had a lot of fast peddling to do to get caught up to this point,” said Charlie Poling, SARM museum director.

SARM President Scott Lindsey said funding for the museum would include the $480,000 state grant, $120,000 raised by the museum, and $300,000 from the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, or CROET.

“We’ve made a lot of progress,” Lindsey said.

The museum would be built next to the current Wheat boarding station at K-25, now renamed the Heritage Center. That station is now used for SARM’s Secret City Scenic Excursion Train.

Although no city money would be involved in the museum project, Watson has warned that the municipal government is the grantee, so the financial obligations would ultimately be the city’s responsibility. SARM members said they have presented Watson with financial information on the project.

If the work proceeds, Poling said museum construction could start in the late winter or early spring, and Lindsey said it could take about nine months. Located on a few acres donated by CROET, the museum would include interior and exterior displays, office space, and a platform.

The Oak Ridge City Council agreed to apply for the TDOT grant in 2000.

Watson had earlier said SARM has many hurdles to overcome before Nov. 1, including major design revisions, a National Environmental Policy Act environmental clearance for the new site, identification of the right-of-way, and design review. On Monday, he said there has been a “lot of movement” in the past four weeks.

City starts search for Jackson Square design firm this week

Posted at
By 1 Comment

TDOT Commissioner John Schroer Tours Jackson Square

Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner John Schroer, left, tours Jackson Square on Monday with Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan, center, and City Manager Mark Watson.

The search for a company to help transform historic Jackson Square with the help of an $800,000 grant could start this week, Oak Ridge officials said Monday.

The city plans to release a request for proposals, or RFP, for consulting engineers this week, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said. The winning firm will help design and configure the new square, and meet with the public. Picking a company could take three to four weeks, Watson said.

A separate company will be selected to do an environmental review of historic buildings at Jackson Square, Oak Ridge’s original town center.

The redevelopment of the square will use a roughly $800,000 state award of federal highway money to improve the parking lot on Broadway Avenue, build and repair sidewalks, add trees and pedestrian lighting, and make the square an “attractive, landscaped plaza and parking area.”

Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner John Schroer toured the square on Monday afternoon with TDOT and local officials, but he declined to put a timeline on the project, which requires a local funding match of $200,000.

Watson said it would take at least 18 months to get to the construction bidding stage.

[Read more…]

TDOT commissioner tours Jackson Square today

Posted at
By 3 Comments

John Schroer

John Schroer

Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner John Schroer will stop in Jackson Square Monday afternoon as part of a four-day tour of projects in East Tennsseee.

Schroer is scheduled to be at Big Ed’s Pizza in Jackson Square at 2:30 p.m. The square, Oak Ridge’s original commercial center, was recently awarded an $800,000 transportation enhancement grant for parking lots, sidewalks, benches, and bicycle racks.

During this week’s tour, Schroer, elected officials, and transportation officials will travel by bus to view TDOT projects currently under way and those listed on the department’s “Three Year Program.”

Schroer began his “TDOT Projects Tour” in TDOT’s Region One. The Region One Tour starts in Morgan County today and ends in Sullivan County on Thursday.

For more information on the “TDOT Projects Tour”, visit www.tn.gov/tdot/tour/.

TDOT offers $1 million in litter grants for special projects

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Tennessee Department of Transportation is sponsoring a statewide competition for $1 million of grant funds for special litter projects that go beyond routine maintenance.

Local governments, community organizations, and nonprofits can apply, a press release said. Winning proposals may receive a total of $25,000 to $100,000, which will be used to reimburse expenses each quarter for up to three years.

[Read more…]

Gov. Haslam to announce state grant for major Oak Ridge project

Posted at
By 4 Comments

Note: This story was updated at 8:35 a.m. Friday.

Gov. Bill Haslam will make a special state grant announcement for a major redevelopment project in Jackson Square on Friday, a state press release said.

Haslam will join local and state officials at the announcement, which begins at 11:45 a.m.

[Read more…]

Officials, bike riders celebrate Melton Lake Greenway extension

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Melton Lake Greenway Ceremony

Oak Ridge residents Christopher Van Hook, right, and Zoe Van Hook, center, ride on the new Melton Lake Greenway IV after a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday. Behind them are their parents Jennifer and Mark Van Hook and Mark's co-worker, Pete Xiques.

Planned for years, a 2.4-mile extension of the Melton Lake Greenway in Oak Ridge is complete, and local and state officials celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday.

The new greenway allows pedestrians, bicyclists, and runners to travel from a new parking lot at Solway Park East to the Edgemoor Road bridge over the Clinch River near the Bull Run Fossil Plant.

[Read more…]