City of Knoxville, TN
10/28/2025 | News release | Distributed by Public on 10/28/2025 18:12
Gay Street Bridge Set to Reopen in 9 Weeks
Knoxville City Council tonight authorized Mayor Indya Kincannon's administration to amend two contracts necessary to reopen the Gay Street Bridge to pedestrians and bicyclists by Dec. 31, 2025.
The bridge work remains within budget. The latest work being funded includes making safety improvements to the reconfigured approaches on the north and south ends of the bridge, as well as upgrading traffic signalization to more safely and efficiently accommodate vehicles on Hill and Blount avenues and a limited number of bicyclists and pedestrians crossing on the bridge.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation closed the bridge last summer. A TDOT inspection revealed a compromised element, and two subsequent inspections pinpointed defects in the 127-year-old bridge. The City hired Charles Blalock & Sons Inc. to stabilize the bridge, including current work to reconfigure the north end of the bridge where Gay Street and Hill Avenue intersect.
Since the Gay Street Bridge can no longer carry cars and trucks, vehicle turn lanes that are no longer needed have been removed. In their place will be a newly designed bridge entrance at Gay and Hill.
The intent is to change the character and function of the intersection to more safely accommodate the new circulation patterns of motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists.
The new bridge entrance will be narrowed to 16 feet for designated bike lanes, with increased landscape areas with trees, shrubs and perennial flowers to be planted in the coming weeks by City crews.
Benches with ADA-accessible seating areas will be installed with improved ADA access ramps.
Council tonight voted to authorize Kincannon's administration to increase the Blalock contract by $190,000 for the additional work on the north- and south-end tie-ins. The contract with Gresham Smith was increased by $64,000 for additional study of the Hill Avenue-Gay Street intersection and improved traffic signalization.
The $254,000 in new work - which is within the project budget - brings the City's total investment in stabilizing and reopening the Gay Street Bridge to $2.7 million.
Last month, City Council authorized the Mayor to seek a $1 million Federal Highway Administration grant to study long-term options for possibly replacing the Gay Street Bridge with a modern new bridge that could again accommodate the weight of vehicular traffic.
The bridge work remains within budget. The latest work being funded includes making safety improvements to the reconfigured approaches on the north and south ends of the bridge, as well as upgrading traffic signalization to more safely and efficiently accommodate vehicles on Hill and Blount avenues and a limited number of bicyclists and pedestrians crossing on the bridge.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation closed the bridge last summer. A TDOT inspection revealed a compromised element, and two subsequent inspections pinpointed defects in the 127-year-old bridge. The City hired Charles Blalock & Sons Inc. to stabilize the bridge, including current work to reconfigure the north end of the bridge where Gay Street and Hill Avenue intersect.
Since the Gay Street Bridge can no longer carry cars and trucks, vehicle turn lanes that are no longer needed have been removed. In their place will be a newly designed bridge entrance at Gay and Hill.
The intent is to change the character and function of the intersection to more safely accommodate the new circulation patterns of motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists.
The new bridge entrance will be narrowed to 16 feet for designated bike lanes, with increased landscape areas with trees, shrubs and perennial flowers to be planted in the coming weeks by City crews.
Benches with ADA-accessible seating areas will be installed with improved ADA access ramps.
Council tonight voted to authorize Kincannon's administration to increase the Blalock contract by $190,000 for the additional work on the north- and south-end tie-ins. The contract with Gresham Smith was increased by $64,000 for additional study of the Hill Avenue-Gay Street intersection and improved traffic signalization.
The $254,000 in new work - which is within the project budget - brings the City's total investment in stabilizing and reopening the Gay Street Bridge to $2.7 million.
Last month, City Council authorized the Mayor to seek a $1 million Federal Highway Administration grant to study long-term options for possibly replacing the Gay Street Bridge with a modern new bridge that could again accommodate the weight of vehicular traffic.
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City of Knoxville, TN published this content on October 28, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on October 29, 2025 at 00:12 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]