Bridges as Battlegrounds: An Update on Gay Street + Bike Lane Sabotage on Henley

Leslie Bateman·
Development
·71 Comments
Gay Street Bridge, Knoxville, August 2025
Gay Street Bridge, Knoxville, August 2025

A bit of news that slipped out with little media fanfare earlier this month: the City announced that repairs on the Gay Street Bridge are expected to be complete by Dec. 31. The bridge has been closed since last June and will be reopened as a pedestrian and cyclist thoroughfare, with KAT and emergency vehicles as the only motorized traffic. 

That doesn’t mean it will be ready in time to host a New Year’s Day 5K but it’s a welcome reassurance that the project is still on schedule.

How do you fix a 127-year-old bridge, anyway? If you’ve noticed crane-toting barges parked underneath lately, that’s how. Crews from Charles Blalock & Sons, Inc. have been working span by span. Let’s take a peek under the hood, from the most recent progress report:

  • Span 2 (south end): All WT8x50 support pieces and cross beams are installed, with only final painting left to finish.
  • Span 5 (north end): In July, barges shifted here so crews could replace the Lomas Nut at Joint L8R5. The old nut was removed and shipped to Beverly Steel for fabrication of a replacement.
  • Spans 4 and 5 inspections: A July inspection by Gresham Smith uncovered a few more items in need of repair, including a lacing bar at L5R5 that wasn’t properly attached. (See photos below.)
Photo via City of Knoxville
Photo via City of Knoxville

The bridge’s shutdown has been met with some skeptics and truthers, notably District 1 City Council candidate Becky Jones. According to this Compass report, at a Knox County Republican Party candidate forum in June, Jones declared, “There is no reason we can’t be driving over that right now.” Fellow candidate Charles Van Morgan livestreamed himself from the Henley Bridge at Friday rush hour, showing traffic backups and claiming the City is lying about the Gay Street Bridge being “broken beyond repair” as part of an anti-car, pro-bicycle conspiracy.

Not only is that rhetoric false, it’s dangerous, fueling the hostility some drivers already feel toward sharing the road. I’ve never been intentionally run off the road myself, but I know plenty of cyclists who have.

Last week the City reported that every flexible bike-lane post on the northbound Henley Street Bridge had gone missing. Someone apparently pulled them out one by one and tossed them into the river. Whether it was meant as a statement or just a random act of vandalism is anyone’s guess, but the comments section on the City’s Facebook post made the fault lines clear. Just one of many:

As a South Knoxville resident who regularly traverses Henley, I can attest that the battered condition of those posts made it clear they weren’t a perfect solution. But they did send a message: bikes belong here too. Replacement posts have been ordered and should be reinstalled by late August or early September. Until then, the City reminds drivers, cyclists and pedestrians alike to use extra caution when crossing. 

I recently sat down with Dustin Durham, founder and executive director of YES! Knoxville, a movement pushing for neighborhoods that are more walkable, bikeable, transit-friendly and affordable. We met to talk about this year’s Park(ing) Day on Friday, Sept. 19, but as tends to happen with Durham, the conversation veered toward bike lanes.

He pointed out that Knoxville too often treats “bike infrastructure” as simply paint on pavement.

Gay Street Bridge, Knoxville, August 2025

“Sure, the code might say you just have to put paint on the road,” Durham said. “But dozens of studies show that doesn’t make people feel safe. It doesn’t save my life. It doesn’t save yours. If people don’t feel comfortable, they don’t ride. So why are we doing this?”

Durham is part of the steering committee for the City’s new bike facilities plan, and he’s blunt about the failures of the 2015 version. 

“We did almost nothing with that plan,” he said. “The most we got were sharrows—bike symbols with arrows—which studies have shown actually make cyclists less safe. Drivers see them, get defensive, and crowd cyclists even more. That’s taxpayer money wasted.”

Knoxville almost caught a windfall: $42.7 million in federal funding was set to create safer walkways and bike paths from East Knoxville to downtown, including retrofitting the James White Parkway bridge for pedestrian access. But that grant disappeared last month with President Donald Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” a sweeping budget measure that eliminated the Reconnecting Communities program.

Not the repair barge but it’s always cool to see these things come through, so thought I’d take a pic. Gay Street Bridge, Knoxville, August 2025

In a funny way, Durham and Van Morgan do agree on one thing: the need for more dedicated pedestrian and bike infrastructure. For Van Morgan, it’s to keep bikes from infringing on vehicular traffic. For Durham, it’s to keep vehicular traffic from infringing on bikes. Because, apparently, they can’t just coexist. Not unlike how so much of everything else feels these days. 

And so, our bridges end up in the crosshairs. Use of public funds and the maintenance and development of public infrastructure often deserve scrutiny and frequently benefit from input from diverse perspectives. Yet, it’s a shame that these structures that literally exist to connect us have become yet another point of division.

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71 Responses

  4. I wish people would understand that if more people walked and biked that means they aren’t driving. That means less traffic. I bike when and where I can, but there are places I refuse to go without driving because it would be too dangerous. I’m not saying everyone needs to bike, but if 5% of people did, that could be 5% less motor vehicles on the road. Everything helps.

    Reply

    2. 5% of what number exactly? Out of the nearly 900,000 people in the Knox metro area, how many do you think are within walking or biking distance of their work? How many are within walking/biking distance of taking their children to school? What about the tens thousands of people who travel dozens of miles to come in and out of Knox county from surrounding counties every day? Do you expect them to walk or bike in the heat and humidity to arrive at work and dwell in their sweaty clothes all day? Rest assured, 5% of whatever number actually makes sense would make a comically insignificant difference on the commuter traffic that occurs across the county every day. We’re talking about 2025 in Knox county, with more people moving here every day knowing fully well that this is not a bike commuting environment – maybe, just maybe, could it be they like it that way? Bikes’ primary function here should be recreational, not for commuting.

      Reply

  5. If you look at KGIS.org and select “other maps” and “traffic count” you can see the amount of cars traveling on our bridges. The Gay Street Bridge is not a primary conduit for cars and James White Parkway can easily handle the increase while only adding a couple of minutes to the drive. But, for a pedestrian or a cyclist Gay Street Bridge is a critical path to link the North and South sides of the river quickly and safely.

    I wonder if we can safely extend the farmer’s market to it….

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    1. It’s a cruel irony that the safest way to cross the river for cyclists is *still* to use the Gay Street bridge.

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    2. 100% about James White Parkway. It can feel counterintuitive but when you factor in traffic lights on Chapman/Henley, and certainly if you’re driving during rush hour, JWP can be just as fast if not faster and it’s always free and clear.

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      1. I stopped using Henley years ago. The traffic there is just too bad and unpredictable. Smooth sailing on JWP — for now.

        Also, I’m pro-bike lanes, but I get people’s frustrations with them. They’ve been installed as a hideous after thought and *poorly* planned. Not to mention in some large sections, like on Moody, they are very under utilized. I’ve maybe seen 3-4 bikes on the bike lanes in the years since they’ve been installed, so people question the space they’re taking up.

        Hopefully, the Gay St bridge and upcoming Chapman/Henley bike lane changes will remedy some of that.

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      1. In the past it’s been deemed “the road to nowhere,” and there were several years of debate and studies about extending it. The conclusion of that was that its southern terminus does now serve a purpose as a sort of front door to the Urban Wilderness. The Urban Wilderness Gateway Park is currently under construction there (and looking very cool!)

        Reply

  6. You have to wonder about the intelligence of a political candidate who sees a bridge project as an ‘anti car, pro bicycle conspiracy.’

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  7. Becky Jones and Charles van Morgan displaying their ignorance and spreading disinformation – nice to see their true colors during ballot time. And talk about ACTUAL waste – having to replace the bike lane posts due to vandalism. Yes we should replace them. Riding across South Knoxville bridge feels safer than Henley even with the posts. Clearly the failures show that the 2015 plan never addressed root cause – simply that Knoxville is a car-centric community and most drivers have no empathy for those not sitting in their car. It’s a frustrating reality.

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  8. I’ll never understand the entitled vitriol of the anti-bike driver. Say we ripped out every bike lane in the city today… then what? Would you rather the users of those lanes drive instead? Wouldn’t that increase traffic worse than the 3ft of paint and bollards? Or would you rather the cyclist take the lane instead, as they must do to remain visible?

    Just imagine how much better it would be to drive around Knoxville if even 10% of drivers could be convinced to use a different mode.

    Personally, I just don’t want to die on my bike. But even the most cruelly self-interested and car-brained among us should be clamoring for more bike and pedestrian infrastructure if they want to reduce the number of cars they have to compete with for space.

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    1. I’ll never understand the entitled vitriol of the anti-car cyclist. Say we ripped out every car lane in the city today… then what? Would you rather the users of those lanes cycle instead? Wouldn’t that increase traffic worse since we’d all be traveling at less than half the speed on a machine that is less stable, more difficult to control, provides virtually no protection from other hazards, etc., etc., so we’d be stuck behind accident after accident? Or would you rather the motorists veer into the oncoming lane instead, as they must do to get around the cyclists?

      Just imagine how much better it would be to drive around Knoxville if even 10% of cyclists could be convinced to use a different route besides major roadways.

      Personally, I just don’t want to die in my car. But even the most cruelly self-interested and bike-brained among us should be clamoring for more motorist infrastructure if they want to reduce the number of bikes they have to compete with for space.

      We are not a densely populated metro area. Bike and pedestrian commuting will never make sense for the hundreds of thousands of people in Knoxville who travel dozens of miles per day around town. Far too many people are either physically incapable of that or simply have lifestyles that bikes don’t work for. I would recommend internalizing that and moving onto a cause worth pursuing.

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      1. My cause is that I’d like to get around my neighborhood safely for short trips; nothing at all about eliminating, for example, every safe and legal way to cross a river by means other than a car.

        You should touch grass and consider why you love your car more than the health and safety of your neighbors.

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        1. Lifelong Knoxvillian my friend. I’ve touched more than my fair share of grass in Knoxville and around the world enjoying the outdoors camping and hiking. Glad to hear we agree – nothing is more important than health and safety, so surely you wouldn’t support paths that mix bikes and cars, given the overabundance of evidence that demonstrates that doing so is dangerous for both, but infinitely more so for cyclists. For the sake of everyone, cyclists belong on separate paths. Pray tell – can you please give an example of a “short trip” as you say that is currently unsafe in your neighborhood and why its safety is insufficient?

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  9. Vandalism doesn’t help anybody and is never the answer. Sounds like you agree nothing is more important than safety, which is why something as unsafe and exposed as a bike shouldn’t be anywhere near machines capable of speeds >100 mph in a matter of seconds – i.e., bikes belong somewhere separate than vehicles for the safety of everyone involved. So, if cyclists want their safe paths so badly, they should put their money where their mouth is. Propose a tax program specifically tied to bikes. If that doesn’t raise enough money, that must be life’s way of saying it’s not that important. Long past due for people to stop saying “I want ________ and I demand someone else pay for it.” Also way past time to realize the ignorance of a envisioning a utopia where bikes somehow replace travel for hundreds of thousands of Knoxvillians every day as if cycling paths would even make a minute difference in carbon emissions around here.

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      1. Hi Dennis,

        Is this a serious question? Look at a new passenger vehicle. Then look at a bike. If you can’t tell which one is significantly more protective of a human being, then you probably shouldn’t be operating either.

        Reply

        1. Jose,

          Yes, its a serious question, which I believe you’ve skirted around a bit, but we’ll get there together. What does a passenger vehicle protect you from, other than weather?

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          1. HA wow that’s rich. Alright, allow me to quite directly answer your question. According to the CDC, cyclists accounts for approximately one percent of all trips in the US, yet account for two to three percent of motor-vehicle crash deaths. Just so it’s crystal clear to you – that means that cyclists are twice or thrice as likely to die in a collision than the occupant of a motor vehicle. So you tell me, Denny: does that sound like passenger vehicles are doing a little better at protecting the operator? I’d say it sounds like they’re precisely twice or thrice as safe. Is that skirting around your question?

            Here’s the source: https://www.cdc.gov/pedestrian-bike-safety/about/bicycle-safety.html

            Is that clear enough for you, big fella? Eager to hear your response Denny! Now it’s your turn to provide even a shred of evidence that passenger vehicles are not two to three times safer.

          2. You’re still missing the point, very badly.

            “That means that cyclists are twice or thrice as likely to die in a collision than the occupant of a motor vehicle.”

            A collision with what, Jose? You seem quite obstinate about avoiding the central issue here. Whether that is out of ignorance or intentional disregard, I don’t know.

            So let me make it crystal clear for you: a car is designed primarily to protect you from other cars.

            In a collision with a car, cyclists don’t just keel over and die. It is the CAR that kills them.

            So you’re right when you say bikes are “unsafe and exposed.” But its the cars that make them that way.

            So to say that the onus is on cyclists to fund our own infrastructure is missing the point and in bad faith. The onus is just as much if not more on drivers, since they’re the ones killing cyclists.

            Is that clear now big fella?

          3. You say I’m missing the point, and yet you didn’t even attempt to state exactly what your point is. So the central issue is what, exactly? That the hundreds of thousands of Knox metro residents should ride bikes dozens of miles per day instead of driving cars? Based on what you just said, your logic is literally as follows: vehicles are the ones making bike deaths happen, so people should categorically not drive cars, such that we eliminate the danger of fatality from riding bikes. Surely you don’t sincerely believe that is a realistic solution? Because otherwise, my good friend, YOU are the one either ignorantly or intentionally avoiding the central issue (and unlike you, I’ll spell it out so we can bring it back to what this conversation and article is fundamentally about): cars and bikes do not belong on the same paths together, because it is emphatically unsafe as you appear to have at this point conceded thank goodness. The only way to eliminate that risk is to eliminate the existence of cars and bikes on the same path. So, we can either 1) eliminate the existence of cars entirely (comically impossible) or 2) keep them on separate paths, which is what I’ve said all along. But if cyclists aren’t willing to work with the County to manufacture a funding mechanism for their own commuting infrastructure (which is supposed to be a fraction of the cost of vehicle roads according to your fellow proponents, so it should be easy, right?), then boo hoo. Life’s tough. Move to NYC where bikes actually make sense. Cyclists can’t just stomp their feet, cross their arms, and throw infantile temper tantrums until vehicle drivers comply with their demands to pay for their separate paths. Cyclists need to learn they’re not entitled to anything, just like no one else in this country is entitled to any material thing. They can put in the work, and pay for it themselves. They can start a GoFundMe, and we can all laugh when a pittance rolls in because 99% of people around here don’t support what they support. And for goodness sake, do not be like the other geniuses who compare cyclists’ responsibility for funding cyclist paths to only parents being responsible for funding childhood education, which benefits everyone, or the disabled funding disability services, when the whole point of the disability services is that the disabled are challenged to provide for their own basic needs. Cyclist paths in Knox metro are a nice to have luxury, not basic social infrastructure like healthcare or education. And again, I say it’s a perfectly great idea to have those lanes in the densely populated downtown area. It’s not a good idea on roads like US Highways. Cyclists don’t get to be dictators who hereby order that bike lanes be built for them on the basis that they’re morally superior gosh darn it and those good for nothing knuckle dragging neanderthal car drivers are just light years behind us! Textbook elitism. Just keep going down that path and see how well it works in East TN. P.S. – big fella.

    2. Jose, you don’t believe that. The state announced the upcoming toll lanes because the alternative was a 91¢ instead in the state gas tax. Knox county has 1.2B of maintenance liabilities cyclists are expected to pay taxes on, but will not be able to use most of. I will gladly accept a tax increase to fund more bike infrastructure, the second drivers also agree to cover their maintenance expenses (which they come nowhere close to doing). Until then, I’ll keep happily paying my property and sales taxes like everybody else.

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      1. This comment is a little incoherent, but I’ll do my best to decipher. Toll lanes are literally called choice lanes. In other words, one pays extra if they would like the choice of using those lanes. Please cite your source that says Knox County has $1.2b of maintenance liabilities that cyclists are expected to pay taxes on? You can go to the 24-25 Knox County budget right now and see that Engineering and Public Works clearly states that it will be spending $7m on road paving and resurfacing. A vocal minority support commuter bike lanes. This is just the forum used to throw a tantrum because practically speaking, a tiny number of people agree that motorists should bear the cost of creating bike lanes that will go unused in comparison to the amount of usage motorized lanes are used.

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        1. Jose, the point is that drivers do not pay the cost of driving. They have not for decades. The “choice lanes” (yes, they are tolls, or the state would not have had to lift the ban on toll roads) are being implemented because the alternative was quadrupling the gas tax. Drivers do not pay for the cost of roads to drive. See the reason article linked below (I remembered wrong too, it was 93 cents!).
          If you think everybody paying their infrastructure costs is a good idea, thats fine, but do so knowing driving is orders of magnitude more expensive than cycling. For example, the Gay St bridge would be $50-60M to repair for vehicle traffic, not the $2M for pedestrian traffic.

          Regarding maintenance liabilities, see the Knox news link. I will apologize for saying “maintenance” instead of “debt”, though the point remains the same.

          https://reason.org/commentary/tennessee-gov-lee-signs-significant-transportation-bill-choice-lanes/#:~:text=To%20generate%20the%20funding%20needed,to%20the%20state's%20transportation%20challenges.

          https://www.knoxnews.com/story/shopper-news/farragut/2024/08/28/knox-county-mayor-candidate-larsen-jay-warns-about-taxes-debt/74904331007/

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          1. I’d be interested to read where the state of TN ever passed legislation enacting a ban on toll roads that they subsequently had to lift via legislation. The lanes are optional, which means people pay the toll only if they choose to use them. So yes it’s a toll… but only for people who choose to use them. Not sure what the hang up is there. Also, the article literally says that the alternative 93 cent fuel tax increase was to be used for widening (new roads), not maintenance of existing roads. So instead of everybody paying additional taxes, only the people who choose to use the choice lanes will be paying for widening. The people who choose the benefit pay the “tax”. What better alternative would you propose? The $1.2b debt is just a classic example of using big scary numbers to trick people into thinking there’s a problem to solve, and conveniently Larsen is offering to be the one to solve it! That’s the oldest marketing trick in the book. That debt equates to roughly $1,000 to $1,500 per capita debt for the county, which is a completely healthy level if one were to look across the state, let alone the country for relative comparison. Hanging onto some empty, baseless catchphrase like, “Drivers don’t pay for roads!!!” doesn’t make that silly catchphrase actually true. It’s just used to rouse emotion in people who don’t actually check their facts. Here’s the real fact: Knox county road work is clearly budgeted and paid for through the existing revenue sources. Yes, roads for vehicles are more expensive than cycling or pedestrian paths. But guess what? In the Knoxville metro area, people drive vehicles because they need to. Ever cycle through a school zone during drop off and dismissal? If someone expects those families to cycle to and from school, to and from work, to and from the grocery store, and to and from extracurriculars, then I’d highly encourage that person to ask those families exactly what they think about that proposal to better inform themselves about how unrealistic that pipe dream is. The key is finding middle, common sense ground. Folks need to stop trying to demand the world be what they want and impose their will. Stop trying to make everything a revolution, as if significantly reducing vehicle traffic in Knox metro is feasible – it’s not. Bike lanes in a small, restricted, high-density, urban environment like downtown? Heck yes! Sign Knox up. Recreational bike paths that get folks out in nature and enjoying exercise? Yes, please – I’ll take two! But the anti-car vitriol, environmentalist white knighting, and shaming people for driving cars will get us nowhere. Folks need to stop trying to angrily take a mile when the other side offers an olive branch to concede an inch. People need to stop pretending like they know what’s best for everyone. People need to stop invalidating the life choices that others make as if they have the moral authority to do so. People need to stop acting like they’ve figured it out for everyone, and folks just need to trust them because they’ve got all these answers that are so much smarter. Bikes solve traffic! Bikes save the planet! Bikes lower all our taxes! Please. Just start a dang religion over bikes already since they’re fixing all the world’s problems. Sometimes one just has to accept that they live somewhere that it just makes sense to drive cars, and we accept there will be more traffic, it’ll cost more money, and we’ll pay more taxes – we’re willing to accept those because the benefits that vehicles provide far outweigh the drawbacks. I’ll be waiting for my job offer from Leslie to join as a columnist providing an alternative voice for this publication after she reads this lovely reply that she’s sure to adore.

        2. I can’t reply to that rambly incoherent reply so I’ll do it here. But if youre for bike lanes in an urban area, why are you commenting on this post? The vandalized lanes are the only legal way to cross the river without a car currently! I don’t know if you’ve driven across Henley in the past, oh five years, but that is an urban area on the south riverside, not to mention anything about the bikeable communities in South Knox along Sevier Ave and out to the trails. Nobody’s trying to punish the poor driver, people want to not be forced to drive places, especially when biking is quicker and easier! This article is literally about cyclists getting bullied off the road, I’m not sure how you ended up with drivers being the offering an olive branch.
          Rapid fire time: reason article states the tolls are used in lieu of gas taxes for other road improvements, not just urban highway expansion. See this Tennessean article and its linked attachments for more on the problem.
          Yes! I think kids should be able to bike or walk home safely from school. You know the county does not provide busses if they live within a mile, right? The pickup line that backs up onto East Summit and next to every other school zone is an embarrassment. It makes me sick that a girl had to warn me of reckless drivers on Wilder this past week after they hit her bike.
          Yes! Density will save the county money and help keep taxes low. That’s half the point of the Advance Knox plan. Higher density along existing infrastructure-> lower maintenance liabilities in the future. That means stuff like bike lanes to 1) move people in the same area and 2) degrade the road less. The plan before Farragut’s hissy fit was predicted to save $4.8M vs lose $2M a year. See Knox News for that one.
          I think I addressed everything, let me know if I’ve missed anything.

          https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2022/11/30/gov-bill-lee-administration-to-ask-tennesseee-lawmakers-for-approval-on-toll-lane-study/69690294007/
          https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/local/2024/02/23/advance-knox-plan-guides-knoxville-growth-by-2040/72505475007/

          Reply

          1. Addressed everything? Ever consider a career in comedy? Where’s your source for stating TN banned toll lanes and had to lift a ban? Or are you ready to admit that was just a emotionally driven lie? I didn’t see anything addressing the fact that the Knox County debt is not mathematically an issue. Care to address that? You didn’t address the fact that the Reason article that YOU cited to support yourself contradicted your opinion. Here’s the quote from the Reason article: “To generate the funding needed to widen the same number of miles without the toll lanes would’ve required a 93-cent per gallon fuel tax increase.” Say it with me now: 93 cents to widen. 93 cents to widen. 93 cents to widen. Last I checked, you can’t widen roads that don’t already exist. Care to address that? Henley Street bridge is part of a US Highway. There shouldn’t be bike lanes on it. Only someone who doesn’t get out in the world much would consider South Knoxville urban. I recommend you open up a map and observe the population density of downtown compared to immediately across the river. It’s half as dense at best. I guess you missed the line in the article stating, “…they did send a message: bikes belong here too.” So it’s incorrect to conveniently ignore that part and just say the poor cyclists are being bullied. And again, it’s about the fact that we’re not obligated to install and maintain bike lanes for the whiny .000001% of people who want them when it’s demonstrably unsafe to mix vehicles and bikes on something like a US Highway. Talk about bringing up irrelevant issues – the Tennessean article is discussing revenues and expenses statewide, not specific to Knox County. Thank you so much for the Knox News article, though! Here’s a quote from that beloved source: “Town centers will mostly be encouraged in north Knox County, with the east and south portions of the county having less density and more rural areas.” I find it helps to actually read articles instead of linking to them just because they’re related to buzzy things like Advance Knox. What percentage of students live within the parent responsibility zones? And what percentage of those students aren’t already served with sidewalks and crosswalks? I’d be delighted to hear of even a single example. People who already live within 1-1.5 miles from a school would barely alleviate any traffic anyway… Besides, the parents are still getting in their vehicles to drive to work even if their children walk or bike to school. Are you referencing traffic on E. Summit related to Green Magnet Academy? It’s literally a magnet school. People don’t have to go there. They’re not zoned based on physical proximity. So the vast majority are obviously going to drive in… how exactly do you expect to avoid that problem? Density for the vast majority of Knox is not the answer. It’s not what people want. Thank you for reiterating my point – some girl’s bike got hit on what should be a safe street. Not even on a major road, and yet it’s still a problem. How is it rational to say, “Gee, someone had a dangerous experience on a relatively safe, slow moving, entirely residential street. Let’s have more cyclists on US highways where people drive twice or thrice as fast!”?

          2. OMG it’s true, the Congress of new Urbanism really is using the sewer repair angle to brainwash prospective adherents now. Guess outrage over energy cost doesn’t wash if someone works from home or drives an electric car. In 2023 I asked an older friend why he was an Urbanist and he went into a sustained monologue about over population.

            This clarified my suspicion that the CNU brainwashes its adherents. Overpopulation really was a problem when he joined and that argument got fixated in his brain.

            Note to Anthony: the cost of sewer extensions is minor compared to the mental health benefits of living among greenery. CNU is about control, plain and simple. If anyone wants an example of an Urbanist utopia look at the western end of Cumberland Avenue. Note none of the new buildings have sidewalk cafes or patios. What about eyes on the street? Last year a local Urbanist was irate that Livano apartments put a seating area in front of their building. I still haven’t figured that one out.

    3. Sweet, I’d love to redirect the taxes I pay (income federally, sales and property tax locally) from car infrastructure spending to more cost effective alternatives like pedestrian, cycling, and shared transportation infrastructure.

      Can you let me know where to find that checkbox? I don’t see that line item split out on my tax returns.

      Reply

  10. Bike lanes are indicative of a reasoning that has become prevalent in the modern world. It is up to the 99% to changed their way of doing things in order to accommodate the 1%. It makes no sense.

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    1. Hey Armin,

      What exactly changes in your day to day routine when bike lanes get installed? Are those 3 feet keeping you from getting where you need to go? I hate to break it to you, but those wouldn’t be car lanes otherwise, and your commute wouldn’t be any quicker.

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    2. The 99% had to change their ways with the advent of the automobile. You have to start somewhere, in other words.

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      1. To clarify – are you suggesting that it’s realistic for hundreds of thousands (99% in your own words) of Knox county residents to commute dozens of miles per day via bike?

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      2. Millicent: 99% of people changed their ways with the advent of the automobile because it was technologically superior to all other means available at the time — including bicycles. To suggest that we should revert, en masse, to bicycles is not a serious suggestion. It is equivalent to suggesting that we abandon computers and revert to typewriters, or that we abandon indoor plumbing and revert to wells and outhouses. The only serious answer to the problems presented by cars is to innovate new technologies that solve those problems better, safer, more efficiently, and more reliably than existing technology. Only then will the 99% change their ways.

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    3. Whole systems of economy have been built to accommodate and benefit the 1%, and the 0.1%, albeit a different demographic.

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  11. Unfortunately, I noticed on my northbound drive across the bridge this morning, the bike lane delinators are now being systematically removed from the Westside of the bridge. Likely by the same culprits.

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    1. There are some bollards missing on the west side of the bridge but there are plenty left. This might be an opportunity for police cadets to establish a stake out and catch the perp.

      Signed, a driver who appreciates the bollards even realizing they are symbolic.

      Reply

  12. Thank you, Leslie. These informative articles on many subjects are really helpful. I like the direction things are going. Keep it up.

    Reply

  13. Do they want college kids riding their bikes to class to get hit by a truck? What kind of awful person would remove the bike lane indicators?

    I’m astounded by the anti-bike rhetoric, logic, and reasoning. Please tell me this is not the majority opinion of South Knox residents (or Knoxville, in general).

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  14. Bike lanes are a tremendous waste of resources. seldom used, yet taking up valuable roadway pavement, bikes are demanding huge spending all the whole they are exempt from road use taxes such as vehicle registration fees, wheel taxes, and gas taxes.

    Vision Zero ties make this bike infrastructure plan even more suspect. the City has reduced speeds to 20 miles per hour in desperate moves to come into compliance with the ridiculous goals of Vision Zero. Results? Studies say accidents and deaths increase, not decrease.

    Gay Street Bridge needs proper repair or replacement. Not as a pipedream pedestrian/bike way but as valuable infrastructure moving cars and vehicles around Knoxville.

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    1. I’d be very interested to see you produce a source for your claim that reducing speed limits to 20mph increase accidents and deaths! Looking forward to your response…

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        1. Hi Nope,

          Unfortunately, that is not a study, it is an opinion article, and nowhere in that article does it state any correlation between lowering the speed limit and increased crashes. Furthermore, it pins adoption of Vision Zero plans as the benchmark, but adoption and implementation are two very different things.

          I’d be happy to discuss more with you how Vision Zero works and the benefits of the program for everyone, including people driving cars!

          Reply

  15. What about reporting about side walk expansion and bike lanes beyond downtown knoxville. Knox county built the new schaad road with Bike lanes and side walks but they are not connected to all the parallel roads so we cannot enjoy them sadly ! The Bike lane is very narrow and no poles like on the Henley bridge. The side walks are not maintained at all as well all over knox county

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  16. Very good article! I’m totally flabbergasted that someone can pick a conspiracy out of the closing of Gay Street Bridge. To what dark and secret end would that be?? Makes no sense at all. And unfortunately, in the current climate it seems to go hand in hand with the vandalism on the Henley St Bridge. What we need in response from local leadership is clarity in thought and vision to move forward, so the bicyclists and pedestrians feel safe.

    Reply

  17. You know, I loved living in downtown Knoxville for 12 years. But reading some of the comments in this thread have convinced me that moving to another state was absolutely the correct decision. The ideological blinders that cause some of us to think that social goods are evil and that their personal welfare is purely a function of their own merit are destroying this country from the inside. In this mindset, having tax payers support schools if one has no children, school meals for the poor kids if one has no poor children, or access for physically or mentally challenged people if one faces no such functional challenges is government overreach. From such an extreme perspective, there truly is no I in we. It is hard not to despair as we slide back to the 19th century, or worse, with half the population cheering us on.

    Reply

    1. Comparing educating/feeding children and accommodating the disabled to providing commuter bike lines in a city/county that is not even remotely conducive to said lanes? Thank goodness you moved to a different state (and yet still strangely comment on issues that are not even relevant to you anymore?)

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      1. Maybe if the county provided the bike lanes it would be conducive to biking… Do you just think we should freeze all infrastructure in perpetuity?

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        1. There are inherent barriers to making Knox conducive to hundreds of thousands of people biking dozens of miles every day. The geography/topography (hills, creeks, narrow roads, etc.), the lifestyle of the population (heavily suburban, rural, families, etc.), and the fact that many of the main roads are major thoroughfares for non-Knoxvillians (tourists for GSMNP, tourists for entertainment/sporting events, one of the heaviest traffic areas in the state/country with the 40/75 merge which drives many people to stop in Knoxville on their way through – which is compounded when people use many of the main commuting roads parallel to the interstate as alternatives when there are inevitably major wrecks on that heavily trafficked stretch of major merged border-to-border interstates).

          Freeze all infrastructure in perpetuity? What a juvenile, insincere, antagonistic question that doesn’t even dignify a response.

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  18. Painting a few bike stencils on the ground doesn’t work, this is absolutely foolish.
    You wouldn’t mix pedestrians with cars, what makes you think you can safely mix cars and bikes.
    I speak from experience, I was recently hit by a car in Knoxville while riding in a bike lane. Either spend the money for physical barriers or don’t waste the tax payers money on half a solution.
    What are we supposed to do with Gay Street Bridge, just ride back and forth in circles? This solution is a political boondoggle and a clear waste of money.
    As for me, I no longer ride a bike in Knoxville or most places in Knox County. It is just not worth the risk.

    Reply

    1. Thank you, MC! Agreed. Paths that don’t mix bikes with cars are a valuable addition to the community. Dedicated bike paths do not belong on major thoroughfares such as US highways for the safety of everyone involved. Knox simply does not even remotely have (and pray we never do) population density that would warrant/justify an extensive dedicated commuter bike path system. We Knoxvillians love enjoying the outdoors – since our bike-related dollars are limited, each $1 spent on supporting a more recreationally-focused bike path system likely will go a lot farther and be a lot better spent than trying fit the square peg of commuter bike paths into the round hole that is Knoxville.

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    3. The current repairs to the Gay Street Bridge are a bandaid to make the bridge useful for something while we figure out how to repair/replace it in light of the astronomical expense of doing either and whether it is worth that expense. It isn’t coming back as a vehicle roadway without what would undoubtedly be a highly contested tax increase or bond issue. That is just reality.

      Reply

  19. I seriously do not understand how anybody can seriously believe these bike lanes are the reason traffic is slow across the bridge. It is so obviously intersection capacity, I question if any of the people upset have ever driven across the bridge themselves! Forget bikes, drivers won’t cross faster than a light jogger as long as cross traffic exists!

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  20. I really hope the city continues the James White Parkway Greenway, somehow…It’s sad seeing only half of the Cotrrell St path completed.

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  21. I live in Ftn City. There is a bike lane along Central/Bruhin/Inskip. I drive that road multiple times a day. Over the last 5 or more years since they put in the bike lanes I have seen a total of three bikes using it. And I am not against them…but in some places they don’t get much use.

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    1. Same. It is almost an afterthought. I see more debris lining that area(shopping carts, boxes, etc.) than cyclists.

      Reply

  22. Interesting how most of your articles, if not all, have political bias. Because, preaching to the choir and alienating 1/2 your customers has proven to be a profitable business model for so many…?
    Anyway, website has been a favorite read for such a long time that muscle memory has me still clicking.
    Appreciate your update on bridge with political bias insight.

    Reply

    1. Hi Pete,

      I personally find it odd that you find any sort of political bias in this article. As far as I can tell, the article reports the statements of political candidates quite impartially, but notes falsehoods as any responsible journalist would. Looking forward to your response

      Reply

  24. With the bridge becoming pedestrianized, it would be nice if the city made Gay Street one way all the way to Jackson Ave and added a separated cycle & scooter path. This would solve a lot of the bottleneck issues with cars trying to turn left without a turn lane. Obviously, it would be nice to connect Sevier Ave and the Old City with a safe/efficient route.

    Reply

  25. Just seeing this after reading the “greatest hits” article and I am laughing so hard I can’t breathe. How do so many people here not realize that adding bike lanes gets the bicycles OUT of the road? It moves them to the SIDE so you DON’T have to go into oncoming traffic to pass them. I’m willing to bet the people who think that bike lanes invite more bicycles into the car lanes are the same people that thought foreign countries were paying the tariffs.

    Reply

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