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.

Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization

Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization:

Based on comments we received from our online surveys, there is a common question about why we're studying this greenway linkage and not others. We realize that there’s a desire for greenway connections all over the Knoxville Region.

The geography of this planning study was determined by the Great Smoky Mountains Regional Greenway Council, which co-sponsored the study, and was approved by the TPO. The Council’s focus is on making regional connections, so it is funding studies to link different cities and counties. Residents who want to know more about plans to link greenways within their communities are encouraged to contact their local government.

City uses greenways count data to measure trends, plan future connections

The City of Knoxville today released new data on use of City greenways and trails in 2014.



The data was collected using laser counters that tally the number of runners, bikers, walkers and strollers. The devices, positioned on strategically-placed posts along eight of Knoxville’s most popular greenways, gather precise information by emitting a harmless, invisible laser beam to count people using the trails.

The greenway laser counter project is a partnership effort between the City of Knoxville’s Parks and Recreation Department, the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) and the local AmeriCorps program.



“With this data, we are able to observe trends to help the City polish infrastructure strategies – like park entrance traffic flow, lighting, surface maintenance, and trash pickup – as well as make future plans for greenway connections,” said Lori Goerlich, City Parks and Greenways Coordinator.



In 2014, Sequoyah Greenway was the most heavily used of the City’s 46 greenways, with an average of 4,450 people using it each week. The laser counters documented a much heavier use of the Sequoyah Greenway than had been reflected in previous counts.



Goerlich pointed out that the City has been adjusting laser counter positions to obtain precise information about each greenway.



For example, Lakeshore Park has typically been the most heavily used greenway in Knoxville. But the laser counter position on that greenway was moved away from the ball fields in an effort to specifically count trail users, and the number of greenway users in the 2014 data has dropped.



First Creek Greenway was the least visited trail in 2014, with an average of 81 people a week. Goerlich suggested that construction that closed the adjacent Glenwood Avenue was a contributing factor in the declining number of visitors.



Other noteworthy data results:

• Third Creek Greenway’s use increased from an average of 1,400 people per week to 1,546 per week.
• The greenway loop in Victor Ashe Park was the second most-utilized greenway, with 2,833 people visiting each week; 2014 was the first year for data to be collected for Victor Ashe Greenway.

The City Greenways Ranger, an AmeriCorps position, is able to gather the data from each counter by a simple download through the equivalent of a USB hookup.



The City currently has nine laser counters to use on the trails, some of which the TPO originally purchased. Each counter costs about $500.



Goerlich says the City has plans to purchase additional laser counters for trail use and that there are plans to extend the laser counter program to tally dog park visits.



The greenway laser counter data is also shared with TPO, which can use the information in evaluating regional greenway connections.



In addition to laser counters, Knoxville Parks and Recreation works with the City Traffic Engineering Division to have strips laid on the street that count vehicular visits to parks.



Joe Walsh, Parks and Recreation Director, says all of this data makes for a better parks and greenway system.



“The more knowledge we have about how Knoxville residents use our parks and greenways – in essence, determining their likes and dislikes – the better we are able to serve the public with quality recreation services,” said Walsh.



For more information on City of Knoxville greenways, please visitwww.cityofknoxville.org/greenways/.

To view the 2014 data on greenway use, visit http://www.cityofknoxville.org/greenways/trailcounter.pdf.

http://www.cityofknoxville.org/urbanlandinstitute/KnoxvilleTN_PanelReport_FINAL.pdf

The panel suggests many bold ideas, including the following
overarching recommendations:
... ■ Extend Knoxville’s greenway connection north from
World’s Fair Park.
Corridor and Greenway Connections The city has made great strides to identify and address
connectivity within the downtown and the greater urban
area. Although topography and infrastructure create barriers
in certain situations, they also offer opportunities.
The greenway initiative is a healthy initiative that appears
to have broad appeal and support. Similarly, new initiatives
have led to public and private sector improvements
in some of the major connective corridors to downtown,
including Cumberland and Magnolia Avenues. In addition
to these, the panel has identified several areas that should
be addressed to further enhance connectivity between
downtown and adjacent areas. They include connections to
and with the western and eastern portions of the city, the
Tennessee River/Lake Loudon waterfront, and a Jackson
Avenue greenway connection.
To further enhance connectivity, the panel suggests completing the
greenway initiative and connecting Knoxville’s unique cultural and
recreational amenities to the city’s eastern and western portions, the
Tennessee River, and beyond.
Though numerous
recommendations are described throughout this report,
the panel believes the following are priority recommendations
for Knoxville to begin work on immediately to guarantee
Knoxville’s ongoing and future success:
Save the park and add a greenway circuit. Preserve the
vital urban green space represented by World’s Fair
Park, and extend the pedestrian and bicycle connections
it affords to ultimately connect from the university
by the river’s edge up the Second Creek valley, through
the park to West Jackson Avenue, Old City, across
James White Parkway to a redeveloped Mountain View
community, and back to the river and on to the South
Waterfront and Urban Wilderness south of the river.

New Year, Big Momentum: Construction on Waterfront Drive Continues, To Start on Suttree Landing Park

City of Knoxville:

January 13, 2015 - It's the start of a new year - and 2015 will mark a major expansion of South Knoxville Waterfront redevelopment. Work is underway by road builder Charles Blalock & Sons on the new $3.2 million Waterfront Drive, a tree-lined direct access to the new five-acre Suttree Landing Park that also will be under construction this year. The new 2,988-foot-long two-lane street north of Langford Avenue will connect more than half a mile between Barber Street and Foggy Bottom Street. It will rim the southern edge of the new Suttree Landing Park. The road project includes asphalt pavement, 11-foot-wide lanes, concrete sidewalks and curbs, landscaping, tree plantings and decorative street lighting. The first phase of the park construction is going out to bid this month. Suttree Landing Park - the City's first major new park to open in a decade - will feature an event lawn, a river walk and river overlooks, a boat ramp and a playground. In a follow-up phase, restrooms and a boat house will be built. "The conceptualization, public input and planning for Waterfront Drive and Suttree Landing Park have been meticulous and thoughtful," said Dawn Michelle Foster, the City's Deputy Director of Redevelopment, who's headed up the projects. "Bids for the park construction will soon be solicited, and the road construction began last fall. Now that we're fully into the construction phases, it's exciting to see these great public amenities becoming a reality." Joe Walsh, the City's Director of Parks and Recreation, predicts the new park will be well-liked and widely used by South Knoxvillians. "It'll be a nice, aesthetically-pleasing park on the south side of the Tennessee River, and it'll be symmetrical with what's on the north side - Volunteer Landing and Ned McWherter Park," Walsh said. Also slated to be completed in spring 2015, a little over a mile southwest from Suttree Landing Park, is the newly redesigned entrance to Fort Dickerson Park off Chapman Highway. In addition to adding new landscaping, the $1 million Fort Dickerson Roadway Realignment Project will realign Fort Dickerson Road with Woodlawn Pike and includes about 475 feet of new two-lane road with sidewalk and signalization.

City Crews Repair Boardwalk on Neyland Greenway

City of Knoxville:



January 20, 2015 - Neyland Greenway runners and bicyclists can focus on their heart rate and speed - and not worry about navigating an irregular surface - now that City of Knoxville crews have replaced the boardwalk that skirts the Kuwahee Wastewater Treatment Plant along the Tennessee River. 

The wooden decking, more than 20 years old, was warping and due for an upgrade. So the City's Public Service Department replaced all the boards, added joists and made structural upgrades - a renovation that, if contracted out to a private company, might have cost as much as $40,000. 



The work was done entirely by City workers over a month and a half, costing only about $10,000 in materials. 

Similarly, Public Service Department crews saved taxpayer dollars by rerouting a flood-prone section of the Third Creek Greenway late last year. Doing that project in-house saved about $145,000, compared with the estimate from a private contractor, according to Peter Gerlach, the City's Construction Manager. 

Public Service Department Foremen Steve Ogle and Brad Mills oversaw the Neyland Greenway Boardwalk work, which was started in December, because that's the time when the popular greenway is least used. 

"It was a perfect opportunity, because usage is lowest in December and early January," Gerlach said. "We're finishing up the last details now. This boardwalk should be good for the next 25 or 30 years." 

SEE VIDEO LINK BELOW: 
Foreman Steve Ogle talks about the boardwalk project.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B76Wf1MmISOrcHlLMGgwZHhwdHc/edit?pli=1

Wayfinding Signs Hit Downtown

City of Knoxville:



February 27, 2015 - Take a close look next time you're downtown. Installation of a comprehensive, attractive system of signs continues, part of the Wayfinding project. 

Pictured here is a vertical gateway sign that welcomes motorists and pedestrians entering downtown at Henley Street and Summit Hill Drive. 

The system of Wayfinding signs will provide a coherent, consistent guide to public parking, historical sites, cultural attractions, districts such as the Old City, recreation opportunities, government buildings, hospitals and transportation options. 

Besides helping people to find their destinations and parking garages, the signs also will help give downtown a unique look. Aesthetically, the new signs carry color schemes and motifs inspired by downtown's architecture and history.

Plus, the 250 new signs will replace about 400 existing signs, so there will be about a 40 percent reduction in the number of existing signs. 

Jarvis Sign Co. of Madison, Tenn., is the fabricator and installer, and First Place Finish of Oak Ridge is a subcontractor on the project. 

About 40 percent of the new signs are now up throughout downtown. The rest should be installed by April. 

For more information on Wayfinding, please visit: 

http://www.cityofknoxville.org/wayfinding/