James White Parkway Will Remain Closed During Boomsday

Knoxville, TN. — The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) announced today that James White Parkway (JWP) will remain closed to traffic during the Labor Day weekend including the “Boomsday” fireworks celebration on Sunday, September 2. The three-day Boomsday festival which begins Friday, August 31 usually attracts more than 325,000 visitors into downtown Knoxville.

There are several alternative routes eastbound and westbound motorists can take into downtown Knoxville. Eastbound motorists on I-40 can take the Exit 386B (Alcoa Highway/Rt.129) to either Cumberland Avenue or Neyland Drive. Eastbound motorists can also take Exit 387B (17th Street) or Exit 388 (Henley Street/Rt.441) to get to campus and downtown. Motorists traveling westbound on I-40 can take Exit 389 (Hall of Fame Drive) into downtown Knoxville or any of the other exits previously mentioned.

JWP has been closed since December 2006 for the demolition and reconstruction of several ramps, bridges and roadways as part of the continuing SmartFIX40 project. The parkway is expected to reopen at the end of next month.

SmartFIX40 is an accelerated construction process, involving completely closing a primary roadway to allow around-the-clock work that is uninterrupted by traffic in order to dramatically shorten construction time, thereby reducing the long-term inconvenience to motorists.

During the SmartFIX40 project, I-40 traffic through Knoxville will be rerouted onto I-640 for 14 months beginning in the spring of 2008. Local traffic will have access to downtown at all times during the closure. This closure of I-40 will avoid more than two years of traffic delays, lane closures and other frustrations by allowing construction crews to work on roadways and bridges without traffic.