Norris sidewalk project nears completion
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Workers are nearing completion of the new sidewalk under construction along East Norris Road from Dairy Pond Road to the shopping center at U.S. 441 and Ander- sonville Highway in Norris.
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Workers begin pouring concrete for the last section of the new East Norris Road sidewalk connection to Dairy Pond Road on Thursday, Sept.3. The sidewalk, nearing completion, will extend from Dairy Pond to the Anderson Crossing Shopping Center on Andersonville Highway.
Work is nearing completion on the East Norris sidewalk project, for which construction began in May.
Most of the concrete has now been poured and is in place from the north end of the project at Dairy Pond Road to its end at the Anderson Crossing shopping center at East Norris Road and Andersonville Highway.
Although the project was supposed to have been completed by the end of August, the contractor still had a lot left to do as September opened. In the past few days, however, paving activities have stepped up significantly, and tons of concrete have been poured.
This project represents the last major link in the Norris sidewalk network and will allow people to use dedicated pedestrian walkways through the entire city all the way from Norris Freeway to Andersonville Highway.
Workers began setting out marker flags and stakes in May to outline the route, and then began removing trees, grading the route, and installing drains and other components for the $347,000 project.
At Andersonville Highway, the sidewalk will “loop into the parking area of the shopping center,” Norris City Manager Scott Hackler said earlier, when construction began. “There will be pedestrian signals at the traffic light.”
The sidewalk “zigzags quite a bit,” Hackler said, adding that a few trees were to be taken out, but that “some old-growth trees will be left in place to have some shade,” forming a canopy over part of the route.
One section of the sidewalk closest to Andersonville Highway crosses over right of way deeded to the city from the old Norris Creamery property by Jerry and Ellalyn Crossno, Hackler said.
The sidewalk runs on the east side of East Norris Road, and ties into the existing East Norris and Dairy Pond road sidewalks at the intersection of those two roads.
It also runs through the front yard of a house that just recently sold next to the self-storage facility, on the Dairy Pond Road end of the project. Adams Construction from Kentucky is the contractor.
Still pending in Norris is the Safe Routes to Schools sidewalk project, which is expected to begin during this budget year.
It will run from the post office around to the bus circle in front of the middle school.