KNOXVILLE, TN (Story courtesy of WVLT) – The City of Knoxville is set to begin the next phase of construction on Pleasant Ridge Road. People from the area were invited to see the city’s plans for the future of the road.
“There’s some pretty hairy areas that’s very dangerous,” Stuart Hall, who lives near Pleasant Ridge Road, said.
Hall has lived in the area for decades. He’s excited to see something get done, but does have his concerns.
“It needed to be done. I was expecting more than what it is, but I guess we’ll have to be satisfied with what we get now,” Hall said.
The city has plans to build four new turn lanes there, a sidewalk and a 1.25 mile greenway.
“So additionally to addressing roadway safety with the turning vehicles, we wanted to give bicyclists and pedestrians a safe place to get through the corridor,” city of Knoxville civil engineer Shawn Fitzpatrick said.
The project will cost $18.9 million. Hall said he’d still like to see more done soon though.
“I believe that it would be wise just to go ahead and go wider now because otherwise were just going to be chasing the same rabbit again,” Hall said.
We asked Fitzpatrick about this and he said the city did a traffic study and found this is the most economically efficient way to do the project.
City officials said the project is expected to be done by the end of 2027.
Fitzpatrick said people can expect delays and rerouted areas during construction.
