A formal ground breaking ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday, February 2, 2010 at 10:30 a.m. at the site of the bridge along the existing Greenway Trail just south of the Municipal Building on Associates Blvd.

Trail users will be happy to know that the bridge will link the existing 10 miles of the City’s greenway trails to the western side of the city, a portion currently with no trail access. Construction will extend the trail via new Culton Creek trails to subdivisions along Louisville Road and West Hunt Road. Connection to the West Hunt Road area will be made with a short trail that will connect to the sidewalks in the St. Ives Subdivision. A longer trail will be constructed along Culton Creek to Louisville Road. From there, a sidewalk will be constructed along Louisville Road from North Linden Drive to the Andover Subdivision. Future plans call for the extension of the sidewalk to the Hunters Crossing / Wal-Mart Center. These trails are being constructed by City crews, with work already underway on the Louisville Road sidewalk.

The bridge will span the U.S. 129 Bypass between the Alcoa Municipal Building in Springbrook Corporate Center and Anderson Lumber Company. The vast majority of the bridge construction should not impact traffic flow. The two concrete abutments and approach ramps on either end of the bridge will first be erected. Then large cranes will be brought in to lift and set the steel structure in place. At the time the bridge is set in place, the Bypass will be closed to traffic for a few hours with detour routes clearly marked. This work – similar to the closure of the Bypass in 2001 for repairs to the railroad crossing – will occur on a weekend.

The total cost of the bridge project is just over $1.5 million and is fully funded from state and federal grants. General contractor for the project is Bell & Associates Construction who recently completed the SmartFix 40 project in Knoxville. The concrete and steel bridge will be the same width of the Greenway trails, 10 feet, and will be accessible to the disabled with ramps on both sides. The bridge should be completed in September 2010.