SmartFix Begins May 1; Plan Keeps Traffic Flowing to Downtown Knoxville

Two decades in the making and the major construction hasn’t even begun, that all changes this May for the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT).

“We had a bottle-neck downtown, five lanes into two – it’s something that needed to be addressed,” says TDOT spokesperson Travis Brickey.

That maybe an understatement for the 103,000 travelers that make their way through downtown Knoxville each day. “There has been a need to improve the section of I-40 in the area of downtown where James White Parkway comes in, it is very inefficient. It has had one of the worst safety records on I-40 in the state, probably in the country,” Brickey says.

SmartFIX40 officially began in 2005 with reconstruction set to continue this spring. A $190 million price-tag will accompany this next phase - TDOT’s most expensive to date. The project will include completion of six additional lanes between James White Parkway (Exit 388) and Hall of Fame Drive (Exit 389A), construction of nine bridges and the erection of three noise walls. Local traffic may continue to use James White Parkway and Hall of Fame Drive to access the downtown area and the University of Tennessee. Both east-bound and west-bound flow-through traffic will be re-routed to I-640.

If this sounds like years and years of work, it’s not. Surprisingly, the entire project (with its 3.5 million lbs. of steel and installation of 200 new signs) is scheduled for completion in just 14 months.

“It’s one of those where if you accelerate the project, you’re not having to maintain traffic – you can really get in and get out,” said Bricky.

TDOT has even included added incentives for the project contractor to insure completion by July 2009.
Increased safety and quick completion, accompanied by what Brickey says will make for a more visually pleasurable drive through the downtown Knoxville area. “We will have a signature bridge and we’ve really put a mindset to making it look good and function well.”

More information about TDOT’s continuing SmartFIX40 project can be found by visiting the following website: http://www.tdot.state.tn.us/smartfix/jwp/default.asp

Here are TDOT maps of the road work and closures: general | detailed

For a full report on the project, cameras viewing the work sites, and updated maps and information, visit the SmartFIX40 website.