A new 98-unit apartment complex on Bruhin Road has officially opened across from Inskip Park and its community pool, but years after developers and city officials first discussed sidewalks for the area, neighbors say the street is still missing safe walking paths for children headed to school.
The Village at Inskip held its ribbon-cutting at the end of October, according to The Knoxville Focus. Mayor Indya Kincannon said the city is growing and its workers need housing, noting that many Village at Inskip residents work in hospitality and assisted living and need affordable options. District 5 Councilman Charles Thomas, who represents the area, did not attend the ribbon-cutting; he had voted against the city's approval of the development.
A Contentious Path to Approval
The road to opening day was not smooth. Knoxville City Council approved the development on a 7-1 vote, but Thomas later wrote that the developer had effectively lobbied for a zoning change from RN-2 to RN-5 over neighborhood objections, despite two previous city councils denying an RN-2 development at the same site over safety and infrastructure concerns. The Inskip Neighborhood Association opposed the project, citing a lack of walkable access to Inskip Elementary, increasing traffic on an already busy street, and safety risks to children crossing to the park and pool.
Back in 2022, developer John Huber told residents at the Inskip Park shelter that the project's requirement included a sidewalk along its Bruhin Road frontage, as The Knoxville Focus reported at the time. Residents pushed back, saying “the sidewalk needs to be extended to Dutch Valley Drive and Broadview Drive,” and Huber responded that “if that is required and the city grants a right of way, he would consider it.” That same year, the council approved what was described as a 120-unit apartment complex on four acres in Inskip, though the community that ultimately opened is reported as having 98 units — the available reporting does not explain whether that reflects a revised plan or simply a difference between early and later accounts.
City Says Full Sidewalk Wasn't Required
City officials have laid out why the development's sidewalk doesn't stretch the length of the street. Per a city statement, Knoxville cannot require a developer to build sidewalks from property line to property line, and the development plan instead provides a connection to Inskip Pool & Park. The city determined that a full-frontage sidewalk was unnecessary and disproportionate to the project, and that it appeared to exceed essential nexus criteria, recommending sidewalk improvements proportional to the development's impact instead.
Chief Operations Officer Grant Rosenberg said sidewalks are needed along Bruhin Road but that funding isn't currently available. The city says the sidewalk was set back from the roadway to keep construction costs reasonable and support Vision Zero objectives, and that the development's frontage has substantially more right-of-way than adjacent properties. Extending the sidewalk north or south would require significant grading and property acquisition, according to the city, which considers the east side of Bruhin Road the more feasible location for a future, larger-scale sidewalk project. The Bruhin Road sidewalk connection was included in the city's sales tax referendum, though the city says there is no current funding for the project. Separately, the city and the development are working together to build sidewalks and a crosswalk with pedestrian-actuated flashing lights on Bruhin Road, according to WATE, and the city has created a pedestrian crosswalk across Bruhin Road to the park and pool.
Bus Access Remains Murky
Transit plans for the new residents carry some conflicting details. WATE reported that a KAT bus stop near the pool on Bruhin Road was scheduled for construction in early 2027. In separate WATE coverage, Mayor Kincannon said a new KAT bus stop “was created for people in the community to travel throughout the city, even if they don't have access to a car.” The city does not plan school bus service for the new apartments, and under Knox County school bus policy, K-5 students living more than a mile from their zoned school are eligible for busing while those within one mile fall into a parent responsibility zone with no bus service. The Village at Inskip sits about 1.1 miles from Inskip Elementary School.
“One Child Walking in a Ditch Is Too Many”
For longtime residents, the gap between policy and pavement is personal. Lynne Siglin, a former teacher and Inskip resident, said children without a car would have to walk in a ditch along Bruhin Road and up Broadview Drive to reach Inskip Elementary from the apartments, and that a sidewalk is needed. “Even one child walking in the ditch on busy Bruhin each school day is too many,” Siglin said.
The Inskip Neighborhood Association has said its goal is to bring sidewalks to Bruhin Road and other neighborhood streets, noting residents have sought a sidewalk from Dutch Valley Road up the hill to the pool for years. The city's own High Injury Network data states that while pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists make up a smaller share of overall crashes, they are over-represented in the most serious ones, according to the City of Knoxville. Separately, WATE has reported that 27-year-old Knoxville resident Ezekiel Reeves was killed in a two-vehicle crash on Bruhin Road near Breda Drive around 5 p.m. on May 27, with the driver of the other vehicle hospitalized with serious, critical injuries; available reporting does not connect that crash to the apartment development or establish its year.
Knoxville City Council also approved a $1.44 million grant from the affordable rental development fund to support the Village at Inskip project. For now, with the complex open and residents moved in, the central question for many in Inskip remains the one they raised years ago at the park shelter: when, if ever, Bruhin Road will get the sidewalk they say it needs.
