South Knoxville got screwed when the Henley Street Bridge had to close, get torn down and is bring rebuilt. Many businesses have not survived while the remaining ones are barely hanging on until the bridge is completed and the world can once again visit South Knoxville.
Sources now indicate that the State of Tennessee is saying that they plan to complete the James White parkway. The next phase will take it from where it ends at Moody Avenue to then connect at the John Sevier Highway and Chapman Highway area. It would create a complete South Knoxville bypass.
I hope Governor Haslam will stop this in the tracks. South Knoxville does not need a bypass to make Chapman Highway a ghost town drive.
Thank you for this post! You should take a look at what the city has been developing with 1000's of hours from volunteers with the “Urban Wilderness”, 35 miles of hiking and biking trails dug in the past 2-3 years! While these volunteers have been creating this awesome system of wilderness, TDOT has been planning their way on dissecting the wilderness with a highway! The Urban Wilderness would be DONE if this project goes through! outdoorknoxville.com
I don't give a shit about some marketing scheme, so-called “urban wilderness.” It's merely a re-branded, re-packaged Vestal. This road project was a bad idea when then-Senator Atchley secured the funding from Big Daddy McWherter in the 1986 Road Bill. And it's a bad idea now. This should be stopped because it's a crappy idea. For the record, “urban wilderness” isn't just a dumb idea, it's an oxymoron.
Do you have any idea of what you are talking about? The “urban wilderness” doesn't come anywhere near Vestal. The current version runs through Meads Quarry, Forks of the River, Hastie Park, and some other land off Sevierville Pike.
And its clear that you've never been there. Its a pretty cool area, and gets a ton of usage. People are actually buying up hotels to come here to mountain bike.
Also, it cost the city and county very little because volunteers built the trails while homeowners donated easements to the city.
Like I said, I don't give a shit about the urban wilderness marketing scheme. I don't care about you and your incorrect assumptions about me, either. Still, you are right about the James White Parkway extension. It should be scrapped.