Page 11 - Nov-Dec18

KNOXVILLE By Kathleen Gibi
Mary Vestal Greenway Extension

The City of Knoxville currently has 112 miles of existing TRAILS COMPLETED SINCE 2017
greenways and trails overseen by the Parks and Recreation NEW:
Department. Many of those trails link neighborhoods and Mary Vestal Greenway extension
various amenities throughout the city. Botanical Garden Trail extension
Baker Creek Forest Trail
In some cases such as the Vestal community in South Charter Doyle Greenway extension
Knoxville, there are areas where a small link could go a long Sam Duff Greenway extension
way. As it stood before a recent project in the area, the 0.4- Zaevion Dobson Trail
mile Mary Vestal Greenway linked across Maryville Pike, Loves Creek Greenway enhancement
connecting the South Knoxville Community Center and REPAVED:
Mary Vestal Park. Turkey Creek Greenway
Third Creek Greenway
The city’s Engineering Department just last year Sequoyah Greenway
completed a sidewalk along West Young High Pike that
links hundreds of homes in Vestal southeast to shopping
and dining opportunities on Chapman Highway.

Still missing was a small link through a wooded property
(between Ogle Avenue and the South Knoxville Community
Center parking lot) that would link all of those homes north
to the community center and Mary Vestal Park.

City Parks and Greenways Coordinator Tim Hester
coordinated with community stakeholders for input and
worked with the city’s Law Department to acquire the two
necessary easements for the greenway link.

In government projects, once the easement acquisition
phase is completed, it’s usually another several months
before construction can begin. There is an entire bidding
process that comes with hiring out work to contractors.

Thanks to the creation of the city’s Greenways Service
Crew in December 2016, less complicated trail projects
such as this 0.3-mile connection can now be built in-house.

The Greenways Service Crew laid the groundwork
for the connection with grading, clearing debris and
removing overgrown vegetation. The Public Service
Department’s other divisions assisted. The Urban
Forestry Division cleared trees; Horticulture crews
also helped clear brush; and Asphalt and Concrete
crews then came in to install the infrastructure. The
crews put the finishing touches on the project in the
final days of May.

The completion of the Mary Vestal Greenway
extension instantly removed a pedestrian barrier
between two important sections of the Vestal
community.

Residents, enthusiastic about this trail connection,
used several community grants to install an artistic
arch over the Ogle Avenue entrance of the new
greenway, as well as an adjacent pavilion in what the
community has dubbed “Vestal Gateway Park.”

Including the Mary Vestal Greenway extension,
the Greenways Service Crew has already constructed
approximately two miles of new trails. That’s in
addition to executing ongoing maintenance of the
city’s existing 112-mile trail system.

For more information on Knoxville greenways and
trails, visit www.knoxvilletn.gov/greenways.

View online at tnpublicworks.com 11