In the Autumn of 2017, we were asked by the South Haven Neighborhood Association to develop a Vision Plan to address the challenges and opportunities that would come with new growth in the Baker Creek area in South Knoxville. On November 30th, the Steering Committee for the project toured the area and discussed safety issues and ongoing community concerns. At this meeting, it was decided that a public input meeting was needed to successfully address the community concerns.

That meeting was held Thursday, February 6th, 2018 at South Doyle Middle School’s library; over 80 community members attended. After a project overview, community members broke into 10 facilitated groups to discuss ideas and potential concepts for the area. The discussions at this meeting did not include the Urban Wilderness Gateway Project because the property had not yet been deeded to Knoxville by the Tennessee Department of Transportation. The group knew that concept designs for the Gateway Project would be in process, but were unsure how that work related to the project scope and time line. Some key topics brought up at this meeting included the need for sidewalks and safe bike routes, more greenways, safer intersections and general traffic calming, better transit, parking concerns, and general infrastructure needs and improvements such as signage, benches, and lighting.

We also hosted booths at the two South Knoxville Open Streets in Autumn 2017 and Spring 2018, where we polled attendees on things they would like to see in the area. We had over 100 responses at these two events. In June 2018 we held a public meeting to review the Plan we created, based on all of the community input, with a Q&A afterward.

The Plan was divided into three main focus areas with key improvements highlighted. They are: the Brownairs Lane extension, the enhanced Intersection at Tilson Street and Lancaster Drive, and the enhanced commercial intersection at Sevierville Pike, Lancaster Drive, and Sevier Avenue.

Traffic and pedestrian access to South Doyle Middle School was and is a major concern for Knox County Schools and the community. The access from Galbraith School Road is currently a blind turn, which creates a very a dangerous intersection. Most parents and buses exit the school across an existing bridge to Decatur Drive, which is a small neighborhood street. Many students walk to school on either Decatur, Alpine Drive, and Lancaster Drive and there are no sidewalks currently to allow them to get there safely. To remedy this, the plan proposed extending Brownairs Lane to Moody Avenue, creating a second primary vehicular entry to the school. As well, sidewalks are proposed running down Lancaster from Sevierville Pike to Tilson Street.

Several intersections are proposed to have stamped crosswalks and pedestrian crossing buttons, and protected bike lanes are proposed on Moody. The Sevierville Pike/Lancaster intersection specifically has potential upon a pedestrian friendly redesign to become a node of neighborhood commercial development and create a miniature ‘Main Street’ for the area. With the ongoing development of the Urban Wilderness Gateway, Baker Creek Bottoms, and the general growth of South Knoxville, this Vision Plan can continue to be a good guide for the area five years after completion.

Update: As of the start of 2023, the City is about to start construction on sidewalks along Lancaster from Sevierville Pike to Tilson Street, giving students a safe walking route to school and visitors to the area a safe route from the local commercial node to the entrance of the Urban Wilderness. This is a direct result of this plan, which was a direct result of community input.