Alcoa drivers who park for the greenway along E. Edison Street will soon have a new spot to pull in. The city is relocating that parking area to a vacant site closer to the Service Center Building on Universal Street, part of a project set to add 46 parking spaces, including ADA-accessible spots, before the calendar flips to the new year.
The Alcoa Municipal Planning Commission approved the relocation project in October, according to WATE 6 On Your Side. Along with the new lot, crews will build a connecting path leading to the main trail along North Wright Road, giving greenway users a direct link between the parking area and the existing trail network.
More Spaces, More Access
The station reports the new lot is expected to be completed by the start of the new year, giving Alcoa residents and visitors a bigger, more accessible staging point for greenway trips. City officials are also planning to add more public amenities in the area, though specifics on what those amenities will include have not been detailed in the announcement.
The project adds to a trail system that already covers significant ground in Blount County. More than 18 miles of paved trails wind through the cities of Alcoa and Maryville, per the same WATE report. Separately, Legacy Parks describes the Maryville-Alcoa Greenway itself as a nine-mile route connecting Springbrook Park in Alcoa with the Bicentennial Greenbelt and Sandy Springs Park in Maryville.
A Longer History of Greenway Growth
Expanding greenway infrastructure is nothing new for Alcoa. A separate stretch of trail known as Pistol Creek Greenway Phase IV, a 2.1-mile project, had been in the works since 2004, according to The Daily Times. That project was designed to link two existing sets of trails and included plans for two bridges and 591 feet of boardwalks, built through an 80-20 funding arrangement with the Tennessee Department of Transportation.
There is no indication in current reporting that the Phase IV project is connected to the Universal Street parking relocation, but together the two efforts point to a city that has spent years steadily investing in its greenway system. For now, the immediate change for greenway users will be where they park, with the new Universal Street lot and its trail connector expected to open to the public around the start of the new year.
