Central Street Reopens in Knoxville

Knoxville, TN. — The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) announced today that the section of Central Street from Depot Avenue to Fifth Avenue will reopen at 5:00 p.m. today, Thursday, August 30, following the installation of new utilities under the roadway. Central Street had been closed since July 9, 2007 in order for the contractor to install a new sewer line, storm drains and other utilities.

According to the most recent traffic count data, approximately 8,400 vehicles travel this stretch of Central Street every day. The contractor worked extended hours to ensure that Central Street would be open prior to the “Boomsday” weekend celebration in Knoxville on Friday, August 31, until Sunday, September 2, 2007. This three-day festival normally attracts over 350,000 visitors into downtown Knoxville.

The Central Street project is part of the final phase of the SmartFix40 project that is scheduled for completion in June, 2009. SmartFix40 is TDOT’s most expensive construction project in its 90-year history. Broken into two separate construction contracts, SmartFIX40 has a price tag of approximately $190 million. SmartFIX40 is an accelerated construction process used by the department to speed up highway construction.

SmartFix40 involves closing a primary roadway to allow around-the-clock work that is uninterrupted by traffic in order to dramatically reduce the time it takes to complete the project, thereby reducing the long-term inconvenience to motorists. The SmartFIX40 project will save over two years of construction time.