" -Sequencing of the lights is poor."

Hear, hear. I hope someone will take a stopwatch and time how long it takes to get from one end to the other. Add to that the mistimed lights east of the safety building and it's a huge waste of time.

Then we could get a figure for the number of cars/day and the prevailing wage and make up a formula to evaluate the economic impact of all those mis-timed lights.

On the positive side, the new bridge over I-40 is a beauty. Plus I'm thrilled to death* that one can get to and from I-40 going in both directions. Now HOF has the potential to be a vibrant commercial corridor.

*death being the operative word here - as it stands I could get on I-40 E from downtown and swoop over to HOF but that merge onto I 40 is so horrible I avoid it. I miss the chicken city ramp in the worst way.

Back to your original question: is JWP needed? The answer depends on 2 things. The main one is will the JWP be extended to Chapman Highway? If so, then yes, there will be a LOT more traffic. Even if it's not, we will desperately need the JWP and its connection to I-40 during the time when the Henley St bridge is being rebuilt.

I'm just excited that we now have a "signature bridge."

Every town needs a signature bridge.

Next, I'm hoping for a signature intersection, a signature road, a signature walkway, a signature....

Personally I have always thought JWP was a very questionable project. There are already at least 8 roads that go from the river to at least John Sevier highway and 2 go to Maryville, 2 to Sevierville and 2 to Asheville. JWP on south side is squeezed between 2 roads that are parallel, go all the way to Sevier county, and are less than 1/2 mile apart.

These articles might be of interest...

http://www.metropulse.com/dir_zine/dir_2003/1337/t_secret.html
http://www.metropulse.com/dir_zine/dir_2002/1210/t_cover.html
http://www.metropulse.com/articles/2005/15_41/secret_history.shtml
http://www.nashvillescene.com/Stories/News/2002/01/10/TDOT_to_Pave_Over_...

Thanks

The only thing working in JWP's favor is inertia. South Knoxville certainly doesn't need it extended, though Seymour might. If the goal is to connect Seymour to Knoxville, the optimal route is across Dickinson Island and toward Forks of the River. There's a fairly industrialized corridor there that could be stitched together with bridges and elevated spans and cause little disruption to either residential areas or natural areas. The rail line traversed by the Three Rivers Rambler is a fair approximation for this route. Once you get to Forks of the River, you just hook in to John Sevier Highway to get on the south side of the French Broad, at which point any additional convenience roads would run through the communities they serve (Hopewell, Kimberlin Heights, Union Valley) and they could decide for themselves who gets screwed rather than making South Knoxville suffer for their benefit.

It did not include an new, urban-friendly connection to Broadway.

I don't believe that "urban-friendly" and TDOT are compatible in 2006, after witnessing the destruction of urban trees on the I-275 interchanges. After all, it is so important to mimimize having to turn the steering wheel while going the absolute maximum speed to reach the stop sign at the end of the ramp. (Check out how the Dutch approach this problem.)

On a related note, found these gems today on a random CD:

Cedar Bluff interchange in 1965.
West Hills interchange in 1965.
Papermill Road interchange in 1965.

Woohoo, it's the Insterstate system's golden anniversary!
http://www.tninterstate50.com/
For a few more days at least.
Dang, I have missed all the festivities.