The Knoxville News-Sentinel from Knoxville, Tennessee • 10

A10 The Knoxville News-Sentinel Sunday August 26 2001 STREET BEAT Street The Magnolia Avenue extension a downtown bypass The Lochner Plan Lochner Chicago submitted a plan lor Knoxville highways in 1948 The plan called for an east-west expressway Continued from page A1 James White Parkway and the South Knoxville Bridge was built to interstate grades aa far as Moody Avenue providing uninterrupted four-lane access at a cost of nearfy $100 million and similarly going nowhere Ashe contends the third stretch would spend too much money to move too little traffic and instead has asked the state to finish the connection with a boulevard link similar to Middlebrook Pike However he explained There's no intent on my part to further commercial development I want to maintain (South residential But state planners say development is exactly what the plan would allow Bill Moore TDOTs chief engineer said the stateb aooesMontroOed interstate design will allow fir mare speed more capacity and mare safety in the long run meaning won't ever have a traffic light or a and you ever see a Wave of the future Dempster eventually abandoned his debate after a trip to New York and New Jersey in 1955 returning to say Tm convinced limited-acoess streets are best fir getting traffic through Sochi enough the West Expressway construction was under way following PapermiU Drive toward Bearden on the path that would become the precursor to i Interstate 40 Work also began on today's Interstate 4U work also began on STARTING This map shows a beautiful etreet plan far Magnolia Avenue extension as far west Unaka Street But State Highway Department officials ay they know whan the eastern i Tulip west to Unaka) is of little use so link (broken lines) will be started With I far aa traffic Bow goes Moat of the pro-out it the completed middle portion (from posed delayed eastern section is an over pass Traffic could move hum Burlington to Unaka on wide streets if the eastern connecting portion wss completed OiigM apta and nap Horn 1963 Nn8mIM Sin959 offormer Mayor Ben A Morton who was credited with helping to establish the Great Smoky Mountains National Pbrk the interchange quickly earned the more infamous title of "Malfunction Engineers suddenly had a new proUem to solve interstate congestion And a second bevy of oonstzuctian began to expand the routes on 20year traffic projections baaed on the growth rates of a past without the super roads (me had the vision to realize that Americans were going to Min love with their auttxnobiles 8md Moore lot of times our traffic projections even dose to being riant We almost always underestimated the rate of development that comes through zoning Mora cars mora roads UNDER CONSTRUCTION: PR06MMMED ZZZZ EXISTING I TO LET IN 19591 RISHT-OHMYIN PROPOSER In the 1970s the state highway nt linked 1-40 from Menu Nashville across the Cumberland and through Knoxville to the North Carolina state bna Where the original Magnolia Avenue Expressway onoe stood was now shadowed Tt was a blitz We had contracts on top of said Fred Corum TDOT regional director By 1979 1-40 was under attack with road crewa widening the route to six lanes from Malfimrtim Junction as far west as Cedar Bluffi Corum said The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 put into motion a plan to build 41000 miles of limited-access federal superhighways Local and stats plannera took the previously built Magnolia Avenue Extension (or West Expressway) and added It to me proposed coast-to-coast Interstate 40 Financed through a seemingly endless flow of federal money highway officials and cMc leaders envisioned aJl manner of beltways and bypasses Some of the highways proposed in 1959 completed until the 1980s while others never got off the drawing board the East and North expressways Knoxvillians were moving into 20th century mobility with an attitude rarely found among motorists today optimism amazing how many cars a single expressway can said city traffic engineer Wcrtham Dibble in 1965 has made the right start with the Magnolia Avenue Expressway I believe more ofthem wifi be buffi in the At the time local roads were carrying between 50000 and 60000 cars per day And as the traffic grew expressways would keep surface streets under capacity and commute times tolereb Dibble predicted While seldom seal today hundreds of East Tennesseans turned out in December 1964 to celebrate the completion of the West Expressway as Gov Prank Clement and Miss Knoxville Judy Eggere officially cut the ribbon at the 17th Street interchange hold ofyour new state legislators and them what you want continued progress and taxes standing wherethey are or a tax cut and slowed progress" 0 PROPOSE EXPRESSWAYS Shown here in Iht comparative etatue of eta in and around KonmiUe Norm Expretewag oho tho I argent OMtracta poor lot I Biota Bighwag Department It under eonttmetkm by A Long Conntruction Co Went Ex-preeenag 0 boUt to contract Hi MS Right-of-wag far Batt Bxprtttmag and lb Doumtoum Loop umU bt acquired next gear Dutch YaHog Loop It on Uta tatantota program but not got ehtdiUod Tho proponed Soutafr Belt hat no official approval get LOct the Dovmtown Loop it intended nt a primary road prefect School civic organitoBant and proportg oum ore arc invited to write Ttnneuto SaadbaOdori Attooin lion for the booUet-Nmo LifeHnetfor Tennntee OripliW nap aid camon Iran 1969 Now Gwttnil The North initial quarter-mile had become the Interstate 75 stretch north into Kentucky September 1973 opened the east leg of the Downtown Loop die first half of a plan to eventually endrae Knoxvifiefe central busmen district an all sides with expressway access to and from 1-40 But it would be the last prqject toward the completing the loop The heart of the city was moving aa 1-40 helped developers realize the potential of West Knoxville Shopping malls subdivisions and everything needed to sustain a community were competing fir space dose to interstate access provkled by interchanges like West Hills and Cedar Bluffi The improved statetoatate access caused commercial trade volumes to skyrocket and closely spaced interchanges offered so much traffic accessibility there were too many cars The Morton Interchange cnce a design connecting 1-40 and 1-75 Named in honor ae the Grace Moore Cbverieaf at Western Avenue and the Fifth Avenue ramps were rijwiirurtnd Gov Lamar Alexander also promised added relief with the construction of a new route firat envisioned in the 1950b as the Dutch Valley Loop Interstate 640 Alexander raid would aohie the problems until Malfunction Junction was replaced Some $200 million of improvements began and everything progressed tinder the pressure of one deadline the 1982 World's Fair Coming full clrelo By the mid 1980e 1-640 had proved too shortsighted and widenedlanes carrying the piggyback traffic of 1-75 through Weet Knoxville continued to "tt as the fust bevy of road construction progressed through the 1960s bringing 1-40 east out ofRoane County and straight into downtown planners were building without shrink under the combined volume of commercial tracks and tfareacar fernffies bam from amtinued development Roedplanners were reminded again that their solutions were only temporary fixes But in the 1990s third siegB of interstate construction began with the same game plan The work continues now with the soon- tobe-finished renovation of the I-40-ALcoa Highway interchange ongoing wok to add more lanes at Phpermill Drive and next year's pngect to widen and rebuild the route through West Hilb This latest round probably won't end until the renovation of 1-40 at Broadway which still Please see STREET page All development would follow but planners admit now that they had no idea what to expect The interstates were buflt Some Important reminders from BellSouth Because Tennessee's communications needs are growing area code 731 is now in effect for portions of west Tennessee Starting September 17f 2001 you must dial area code 731 for your calls to complete properly to and within the area highlighted on the map at right You'll need to reprogram certain telecommunications equipment like speed dialers fax machines wireless phones security systems PBXs virtually anything that dials numbers automatically (consult your vendor if you're not sure) And if your area code has changed remember to let friends relatives and business associates know Local and expanded local calling rates will not be affected by this change Call on us for answers and assistance We're here to help Visit our Website at wwwbellsouthxomareacode Or call us at 1800 964-7941 5 PREFIXES changing from area' CODE 901 TO AREA CODE 731 -V ---m iVirL -j 924 925 926 928 iSiVWc-j 953 967 968 973 209 217 220 221 222 22S 228 232 234 235 239 243 247 249 253 254 264 265 267 279 251 282 293 296 297 295 302 303 304 305 306 308 310 341 343 352 364 376 389 394 i 1 connect and create something BELLSOUTH.