Crosswalk Art for Historic Edgewood / Park City

Hi Jon,

Thanks for the info... I somewhat expected that'd be the case.

Glad to hear we're getting "continental" style (I really like the term "Zebra" better!) since I've read they are safest and I personally *feel* more visible when crossing them.

The reason I'm thinking of this is I just saw an article showing where an artist creates stencils to transform bare concrete into a kind of tiled mosaic using paint:

http://www.boredpanda.com/graffiti-spray-paint-tile-pattern-floor-installations-javier-de-riba/

My neighborhood is always looking for new public art opportunities, and really when I ask about feasibility, beyond "non-traditional" installations, I'm wondering if you happen to know if there'd be a legal problem with adding street art to the new crosswalks?

I mean, other than securing permission, and the logistic problems related to putting art in.

The "stencil" approach would seem to help with that hurdle, though:

I'm opportunistically thinking of the possibility of adding "folk art" street art as some kind of decorative flourish while the workers add the MUTCD compliant crosswalk, to take advantage of the street closure.

On a related note:

I saw you've been busy with a curb cut for the First Creek Greenway at 6th Avenue.

Thanks for that.

I imagine it must be related to making progress on the Upper & Lower First Creek Greenway connections that you & Brian have talked about.

Are you planning to put a crosswalk there?


You mentioned that Greenways get "diagonal" versions - if you have any freedom to do something different, it might be fun to try it out to make some kind of an artistic "printed" path to indicate the greenway route.

This one is really interesting to me:

http://roadsworth.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Sardines_mercado4_for-web-1237x500.jpg

It'd be cool if people could "follow the yellow fish road" from Upper to Lower First Creek Greenway.






The artist who did it actually does commissioned installations for municipalities:

Peter Gibson, aka "Roadsworth."

You make a good point about funding sources.

If there are not any legal hurdles concerning "special case" crosswalks or adorning "MUTCD compliant" crosswalks, I think I'd like to bring up crosswalk art opportunities with the Public Arts Commission.

I'm sure a first question would be: is this legal?

From the street art the Health Department did at Inskip Elementary School, I can see that students did add color to the interior of the "continental" style.

But, I can also imagine that it's possible this wasn't exactly "safety enhancing."

If you can share any thoughts on what's possible / legal, I'd appreciate it.

For this project, the palette was limited to official "traffic marking paint" of red, blue, and gold with textured grip.  I note that the blue / gold is what the artist used for his "fish" stencils, so that's encouraging, at least.




I'm envisioning something  outside of whatever the city installs, like a stenciled, colorful border, evoking the concept of a "woodblock print" or tiled surface.

Thanks,

Tanner

Re: Greenway Corridor Descriptions

Hi Chris,

I am not a fan of "short cuts" because I think this is our one shot:

Brian has mentioned that whatever we get will be our greenways for the next 20 years or so.

That's especially true because if we get a grant to fund a "bad" connection now, we cant get money to repeat the route on the "better" route.

One compromise / temporary solution that's acceptable to me is bypassing the "problem area" on TDOT land and Standard Knitting Mill.

​

I'm not ready to give up the "better" route entirely, but I accept the proposal Brian and Jon have made for a short-term fix.

We need something; it's embarrassing for the City and commission we haven't had movement on this.

I think it's crazy the city has sat on finishing the connection along the creek on TDOT land since the SmartFix40 project "daylighted" First Creek back in 2007.

I'm going to disagree with you on the idea that the route along the creek makes less sense as part of a connected network or potentially costs more.

If we don't build the route along the creek now, using grant money for "safe routes to schools" etc, then we're not ever going to get a route along the creek.

Plus, a creekside route truly is safer - if we force the issue on getting KUB to give us their land as originally proposed for a creekside "KUB Park" that goes UNDER magnolia avenue near KAT garage, (where a bridge already exists), then you eliminate a 4 lane federal highway crossing AND you get the recreational, aesthetic, and health benefits of a more park-like route.

I also disagree that it will cost more - most of the desired route is along an old railroad grade - so a graded path already exists for most of the route.

This is why I cannot understand what's going on with the City and Willow Avenue. 

If a path already exists following a historic railroad grade, why is the consultant studying Willow and Jessamine? 

If the City is passionate about adding bike lanes, landscaped sidewalks, and striping, great.  

Just don't call it a greenway; call it what it is: a streetscape project.

A true Greenway proposal is one that creates a riparian buffer and walking path with views of First Creek.

​

I've created an overall map of my "preferred route" in Google Earth and uploaded it to my Google Maps:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z28J9y8jeSEY.kraxgeZZX0Fg

The route is 1.88 miles long.

When you combine it with the "William Blount" greenway I've also proposed, you end up with an integrated corridor connecting North Knoxville to the Tennessee River and UT Campus.

(You're right, by the way, the "William Blount" greenway should connect to Second Creek along Neyland, I'm just feeding one small connection at a time).

-Tanner