What a great turnout for such a short notice. The citizens have spoken and they said no. Is anyone listening?

Go to StopAlcoaParkway.com for a short update with more to come.

The Maryville Daily Times has an article in today's paper about the proposed Alcoa Parkway bypass that discusses the pros and cons of the project and our stopalcoaparkway.com website launch.

NOTE: I am misquoted in the article, apparently due to confusion about an Oct. 25 post on BlountViews regarding the upcoming public meeting. The blog post, which is quoted extensively in the paper, was authored by 'bizgrrl', not me as stated in the article. The Mrs. and I disagree a little on traffic lights and the ultimate cost of fixing that stretch of highway, but we do agree that a bypass might not be the best alternative.

And M. Neal (the author of the blog post in question and the organizer behind stopalcoaparkway.com) makes a good point. TDOT presented several alternative solutions ranging in cost from $1 million to $64 million. Surely there is a solution in between that will cost less and have less negative impact on the environment and the community.

Anyway, thanks to the Maryville Daily Times for keeping the public informed about the proposed Alcoa Parkway bypass and for covering opposing points of view.

We have launched a new website at www.stopalcoaparkway.com to discuss plans for the proposed Alcoa Parkway (bypass). For those interested, there's a public hearing on Nov. 9th at 5PM. More info here.

We invite interested parties to discuss the project at www.stopalcoaparkway.com. We would also like to invite engineers, environmentalists, planners and other experts to comment on the project. Please contact rneal@rviews.com if you would like to contribute content to the site.

A public hearing is schedule at the Alcoa Service Center on November 9, 2010, from 5 PM to 7 PM.

Alcoa Service Center
725 Universal Street
Alcoa, TN 37701
865-380-4800

Please come and be a part of the process. We do not need a new, 5-6 lane interstate to run through the heart of Alcoa to give commuters a 3.1 mile respite from Alcoa Hwy. It will take away a lot of green space and bring noise and air pollution closer to one of Alcoa's most historical neighborhoods. This "parkway"s is intended to allow commuters a speedy, but very short path to a sudden stop on Hall Road or the 129 by-pass where there is a stop light.

Just what the hard working, middle-class citizens of Alcoa need, more traffic noise and pollution. How about it if we encourage planned development with continued greenspace requirements and managed roads without an interstate through Alcoa.

The 2007 estimated cost for this "parkway" is over $64 million, whereas the redesign of this section of Alcoa Highway with better turn lanes and traffic signals is approximately 1/2 million dollars. What a waste of taxpayer money. A better solution would be a completion of the frontage roads, with one or more better accesses to cross the highway, e.g. Wright Road and/or Airport Road, removal of the majority of the turn lanes in the center of the highway, with a better design for traffic flow and access.

Directions: The Alcoa Service Center is fairly new and may not show up on your maps. Take Hunt Road to Springbrook Road. On Springbrook Road go past the park, past the pool and school, and past the duck pond. Just past the duck pond is a 4 way intersection. Take a left (onto Edison Street/Wright Road, it has two names) and you will see the new Alcoa Service Center on the right. Go to the main entrance, e.g. Universal Street.

CORRECTION: The "1/2 million dollars" quoted above is a typo. The correct figure is $1.2 million according Knox TPO documents.

The new Alcoa Highway pedestrian bridge was installed in Alcoa near the Municipal Building this morning. U.S. 129/Alcoa Highway Bypass was closed at 4AM for the installation, and we arrived at the site a little after 5:30AM to observe.

Check out the full story at KnoxViews.

We attended the TDOT meeting yesterday regarding the DEIS report. There was a large turnout, with, it appeared, half of the attendees in opposition to the PPE.

Twenty citizens of the community were able to speak and give their comments as to why the PPE should not (or should) be completed. Nineteen of the twenty citizens were opposed to the completion of the PPE. The citizen speakers did a very good job, many with facts, figures, and reasonable arguments as to why the PPE should not be completed. The one gentleman who spoke as a proponent for the PPE seemed to be just giving up, if you're going to do it, just do it, he said.

Kudos to Nina Gregg for her hard work and persistence.

Go to KnoxViews for the full report.

Once again there is discussion of building an "Alcoa Parkway" to allow drivers to avoid a 3 1/2 mile section of Alcoa Highway. The 2007 estimated cost for this "parkway" is over $64 million, whereas the redesign of this section of Alcoa Highway with better turn lanes and traffic signals is approximately 1/2 million dollars.

Do we really need to pave Alcoa? Do we really need a 5 mile 6 lane interstate through Alcoa? Oh, my bad, it is a "parkway". Doesn't that sound pleasant?

There is no need to make Alcoa a parking lot so commuters can go 3 1/2 miles very quickly only to be stopped by the traffic light managed Hall Road (35 mph) or Alcoa Hwy bypass (US 129/State Road 133).

I'm pretty sure travelers can find the new "Downtown Alcoa" without this 6 lane albatross. Wouldn't it be nice if the section of Alcoa Highway from Singleton Station Road to Hunt Road/Hall Road was made a well managed boulevard? How long does it now take to get from Singleton Station Road to Hunt Road/Hall Road? 2-3 minutes? Okay, so there have been frequent accidents on Alcoa Highway, wouldn't it be more beneficial to redesign the existing road (better managed access) than to pave Alcoa to avoid this minor stretch of road?

Have you seen the section of Alcoa they are planning to pave? Lots of green space, including a golf course. The new "parkway" will be on the edge of the most historical neighborhood and park in the City of Alcoa, Springbrook. Won't that be pleasant? Just what those hard working, middle-class citizens need, more traffic noise and pollution. How about it if we encourage planned development with continued greenspace requirements and managed roads without an interstate through Alcoa.

Let's think about this people. Are you with me? We do not need the "Alcoa Parkway".

What are your thoughts?

By way of Rachel at KnoxViews, this meeting will include a discussion of Hall Rd. and Washington St.

You're invited to the public presentation of the Knoxville Regional TPO's Complete Streets Study , at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 26, in the Knox County Health Department's Community Room, 140 Dameron Ave.

The evening will include a presentation of the study and an opportunity for discussion and brainstorming about how the Complete Streets concept can be applied in the Knoxville region.

TDOT has published an October 2008 newsletter for the Pellissippi Parkway Extension Project.

Decisions:

Alternatives that will be carried forward and evaluated in detail in the Draft Environment Impact Statement (DEIS):

• No build
• Extend using Alternative A (formerly Corridor A)
• Extend using Alternative C (formerly Corridor C)
• Alternative D - Upgrade two-lane network (formerly Corridor D)

Alternatives dismissed from further consideration, failed to substantially address the transportation needs and purpose and need of the project:

• Public transit
• Transportation System Management
• Extend using Corridor B

Field studies are currently being conducted, through November 2008.

The Blount County TPO Regional Mobility Plan 2035 meeting was held at the library. There were eighteen attendees and three presenters. Jeff Welch and Amy Brooks were two of the three representatives from Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization (TPO). At least four of the attendees were either local government employees or press. At least one representative of CAPPE was in attendance.

The first half was a slide-show presentation regarding the function of TPO, the areas they cover, previous meeting participant action items, area growth, and principles (e.g. preserve and manage).

SAVE IT, DON’T PAVE IT!
A benefit concert for CAPPE

Friday, Sept. 5, 7-11pm at The Shed

Performers in order of appearance:

Maggie Longmire & Free Soil Farm

Maggie has a terrific reputation as a member of Knoxville band Lonesome Coyotes. With Free Soil Farm you’ll hear Maggie and friends and a new repertoire of original material.

Jay Clark and the CC Stringband

Jay is a talented singer-songwriter-guitarist and long-time friend of CAPPE. Jay will be joined by the CC Stringband.

The Lonetones

The Lonetones bring tender harmonies and fine lyrics to their original mountain music.

The Bearded

The Bearded an old time string and rhythm band. They played to a full house at Maryville’s Tomato Head recently.

Admission is $10 at the gate.

Food and beverages will available for purchase.

Bring folding chairs and enjoy a night of great music!

We look forward to seeing you on Friday, Sept. 5 at The Shed!

The Shed is located adjacent to Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson & Buell (SMHD) on US 321 in Maryville, Tennessee. The Shed is an outdoor, covered pavilion with a full service restaurant that serves lunch and dinner on event days.

CAPPE (Citizens Against the Pellissippi Parkway Extension, Inc.) is a state chartered non-profit organization.

We formed CAPPE in 2002 in response to a proposal to build a new 4-lane interstate highway through some of Blount County’s remaining agricultural land and the lower Little River valley. CAPPE members include farmers, professionals, educators, lawyers, blue collar workers, realtors, builders, musicians, artists, homemakers, small business owners, retirees and college students.

We believe this highway is not needed, wastes state resources, and will have negative impacts on the area along the route and on the quality of life in Blount County as a whole. We raised money through events and donations and hired an environmental attorney who helped us file a federal lawsuit charging the state Department of Transportation with failing to complete the required Environmental Impact Statement.

TDOT is now working on the EIS and CAPPE is continuing to monitor the process and participate in all public input opportunities. We have also provided TDOT with sensible alternative solutions to our local transportation needs (which will be exacerbated, not solved, by the proposed new 4-lane highway).

To read more about CAPPE, please visit www.discoveret.org/cappe

Via KnoxViews, the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization is holding a series of workshops to get public input on the region's long range transportation plan.

The TPO also has an online survey regarding priorities for the long range plan. Following are the workshop schedules:

They are holding Regional Mobility Plan 2035 Public Workshops.

The Blount County workshop will be at the Blount County Public Library, Wednesday, June 4. Meetings begin at 6 p.m. unless noted otherwise, and should last about an hour.

Daily Times

The Blount County Planning Commission wants to keep a scaled-down variant of the controversial Southern Loop proposal on the drawing board.

During a special called meeting on Tuesday, planning commissioners indicated that they wanted to keep the proposal for a two-lane bypass around the cities of Alcoa and Maryville in the text of the county Policies Plan.

Planners let it slip in a recent TDOT public hearing on the Pellissippi Parkway Extension that local traffic congestion improvements would only be realized if the southern loop is completed.

Citizens Against the Pellissippi Parkway Extension explain the problem:

According to TDOT’s traffic studies, the PPE will produce marginal and short-lived improvements to traffic conditions on a few roads, and within 20 years even these limited improvements will have disappeared.

Becky White, whose firm did the traffic analysis for TDOT, said that this projection assumes the Southern Loop and other proposed new roads will be built.

[..]

Tell TDOT that they need to do credible traffic studies of the impact of the PPE on our existing road system – the road system that will be in place when the PPE is in use. Until this is done there is no objective data supporting the assertion that the PPE will alleviate traffic congestion anywhere in the cities or the county.

In other words, if the southern loop (for which other more desirable alternatives have been identified) is phased out of regional transportation plans, the PPE cannot be justified on the basis of relieving traffic congestion.

Decisions by the Knoxville Regional TPO influence TDOT planning and affect Blount County. They are seeking input for their long range plan. Go fill out this short survey.

Maryville Daily Times

More than 500 people packed the auditorium at Heritage High School Tuesday evening for a public meeting on the proposed extension of the Pellissippi Parkway.

Knoxville News Sentinel

Supporters and opponents of the proposed Pellissippi Parkway Extension jammed the auditorium at Heritage High School Tuesday night for a public hearing on one of the most contentious issues facing Blount County.

WBIR

A standing-room-only crowd of several hundred people flooded Heritage High School's auditorium Tuesday night for the latest details on a proposed Pellissippi Parkway expansion project.