Blog: Magnolia Avenue Streetscapes Project

Water Quality Device Installed 25 Feet Underground in Magnolia Avenue Streetscapes Project

Phase I construction on the $4.2 million Magnolia Avenue Streetscapes Project between Jessamine Street and Myrtle Street is on schedule as crews are making significant drainage improvements, including the installation of a large-scale stormwater quality device.

Water Quality Unit

A hidden hero, the device will live 25 feet underground, protecting the First Creek watershed from litter and pollutants washed into the waterways from the Magnolia Avenue corridor during rains.

It’s similar to the one that the City installed at Second Creek as part of the Cumberland Avenue Corridor Project. (Click HERE to read about that water quality device.)

On Magnolia Avenue, a six-foot diameter Hydro International Downstream Defender will filter the City’s stormwater system at Jessamine Street near the Knoxville Area Transit maintenance facility.

The installed stormwater quality unit on Magnolia Avenue at Jessamine Street.

This device will act as a filter to catch cigarette butts, soda cans and other larger objects. It will also suspend hydrocarbons (or components of petroleum) and oils that run off the street during rains. Click HERE to view detailed information about the device.

Phase I of the Magnolia Avenue Streetscapes Project is slated to be complete in summer 2019 and will include landscaped center medians with designated left turn lanes, new stamped crosswalks, designated on-street parking, traffic signal upgrades, street trees and landscaping, LED pedestrian and street lighting, and wider sidewalks and bike lanes.

Next month, crews will move to the next leg, extending the streetscape work eastward to Bertrand Street.

At its Dec. 18, 2018, meeting, City Council approved the $2.87 million contract to execute construction for Phase II of the Magnolia Avenue Streetscapes Project from Myrtle to Bertrand Street. McKinnon Construction will be doing the work on this phase and is expected to begin in February 2019.

For more information, visit www.knoxvilletn.gov/magnolia.

Posted by On 20 January, 2019 at 1:08 PM