Using lasers, Knoxville tracks most popular greenways

Using lasers, Knoxville tracks most popular greenways:



Knoxville's Sequoyah Greenway is the most heavily used in the city system, with the loop at Victor Ashe Park coming in second.

That's the finding of a survey conducted by the city and its partners using lasers to track greenway traffic, including runners, bikers and walkers.

Lasers were placed along eight greenways. The city has 46 trails of varying lengths.

An average of 4,450 people used Sequoyah per week during 2014, according to the survey. That's much higher than the city has seen in the past on the greenway, according to the city.

Lakeshore Park is one of the city's most popular parks and typically has heavy greenway use. For the survey, however, the laser counter's position was moved away from youth ball fields and that showed a lower count of pedestrian greenway users.

Third Creek Greenway, another popular trail that skirts the University of Tennessee campus, saw traffic rise from about 1,400 people per week to 1,546 in 2014.

First Creek Greenway in North Knoxville was the least visited trail in 2014, according to the city, with an average of 81 people a week in 2014. Lori Goerlich, city parks and greenways coordinator, theorizes that closure of Glenwood Avenue nearby inhibited greenway usage.

The city plans to use the survey data to strategize best use of its greenways.

It plans to use lasers in the future to track dog park usage.

The city, the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization and the area AmeriCorps program teamed up on the survey project.

TPO can use the survey data for future consideration of greenway connections.