If you've driven through or past Burlington recently, you've noticed that the new Burlington Fire Station No. 6 is going vertical.
The foundations have been completed. Motorists on Magnolia Avenue can see crews with G&P Masonry building the block walls higher and higher each day.
The first new Knoxville fire station in 30 years replaces one that's a block away but is showing its age as an 88-year-old structure. Station No. 6 is on schedule to be substantially complete by the end of 2026.
Firefighters stationed here respond to about 1,600 calls for emergency service each year.
Meanwhile, work is starting nearby on the Burlington Streetscapes Project on Monday, April 13.
Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue is closing between Lakeside and Fern streets to accommodate upgrades being made to the Burlington water and sewer infrastructure and new storm drainage being installed. Other side streets, such as Kirkwood Street, are affected in Phase I traffic control for the project.
The Burlington Streetscapes Project will replace the crumbling sidewalks on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue between the Kirkwood Street and Holston Drive intersections (and along Prosser Road from MLK to Holston Drive) with wide, smooth, ADA-compliant and tree-lined sidewalks. The project includes new traffic signals and streetlights, with overhead utility lines being relocated.
Combined, the new fire station and the revitalized streetscape represent a $17 million City investment in Burlington.