Question for you guys living in Knoxville, all help is appreciated...

[RockyTop411]

Leaving Smyrna, Tennessee around 3:45 AM CT to arrive in Knoxville by 7:30 AM ET. I have a meeting in Knoxville that I will be over by around 5:00 PM ET. I need to be back in Smyrna by 8:00 PM CT and I was wondering how bad Knoxville traffic is around 5:00 PM. I am leaving from the University of Tennessee's campus and any tips to dodge traffic to get on I-40 W would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

 

[bamacheats]

It's going to be real slow until you get all the way to Campbell Station.

It's a toss up, but at times it's faster to take Alcoa highway to Pellissippi, enter I40 there.

Check the radio I guess.

 

[RockyTop411]

It's going to be real slow until you get all the way to Campbell Station.

It's a toss up, but at times it's faster to take Alcoa highway to Pellissippi, enter I40 there.

Check the radio I guess.

So it's going to be an hour of sitting and waiting?

 

[ajvol01]

So it's going to be an hour of sitting and waiting?

What day of the week?

Friday traffic is by far the worst.

If you leave UT at 5 PM it will take you ~30-45 minutes to get to the I-40 / I-75 split by interstate.

Edit: Changed my numbers after asking the missus

 

[RockyTop411]

What day of the week?

Friday traffic is by far the worst.

If you leave UT at 5 PM it will take you ~30-45 minutes to get to the I-40 / I-75 split by interstate.

Edit: Changed my numbers after asking the missus

Damn. Thanks for the info, that's just a little disheartening.

You don't know any short cuts by chance do you?

 

[bamacheats]

Stay in the right lane. You'll be fine. Especially when you get past Cedar Bluff. It'll look like you're leaving 40, but if you stay right, you'll pass a ton of stopped traffic, and get right back on 40 at Lovell Rd. You'll get back by 8:00 no problem.

 

[ajvol01]

Damn. Thanks for the info, that's just a little disheartening.

You don't know any short cuts by chance do you?

Not any really good shortcut options.

You can go south from UT on US-129 (Alcoa Hwy) to exit North on I-140 (Pellissippi Pkwy) toward Oak Ridge to get on I-40 just west of Cedar Bluff. This will take 20-25 minutes if there is minimal traffic.

For reference:

I-140 intersects I-40 @ mile marker 376

UT is @ I-40 mile marker 387

 

[RockyTop411]

Stay in the right lane. You'll be fine. Especially when you get past Cedar Bluff. It'll look like you're leaving 40, but if you stay right, you'll pass a ton of stopped traffic, and get right back on 40 at Lovell Rd. You'll get back by 8:00 no problem.

So get on I-40 from campus and stay in the right all the way through? Or do you mean go off somewhere else.

 

[RockyTop411]

Not any really good shortcut options.

You can go south from UT on US-129 (Alcoa Hwy) to exit North on I-140 (Pellissippi Pkwy) toward Oak Ridge to get on I-40 just west of Cedar Bluff. This will take 20-25 minutes if there is minimal traffic.

For reference:

I-140 intersects I-40 @ mile marker 376

UT is @ I-40 mile marker 387

I see that on google maps. That looks like a good idea if the mass of traffic is on 40. Will Alcoa and Pellissippi be backed up too?

 

[ajvol01]

I see that on google maps. That looks like a good idea if the mass of traffic is on 40. Will Alcoa and Pellissippi be backed up too?

On Pellissippi, traffic usually not an issue.

For Alcoa not sure what normal traffic is at 5 heading south, but there will be significantly less traffic than I-40.

Usually only issues on Alcoa if there is a wreck.

If going this way you can turn right on Topside Rd and pickup Pellissippi - again no clue if this is heavy traffic at 5.

 

[ATC_VOL]

You could go north on I-75 to Clinton Highway and from there go through Oak Ridge and join I-40. I've done this before after games a couple times but honestly there's not really a good short cut.

 

[ATC_VOL]

So get on I-40 from campus and stay in the right all the way through? Or do you mean go off somewhere else.

What he's talking about, it's one of those, you get off on an exit but there's a lane to keep going straight and rejoin 40.

 

[bleedorange0037]

You could go north on I-75 to Clinton Highway and from there go through Oak Ridge and join I-40. I've done this before after games a couple times but honestly there's not really a good short cut.

This probably what I'd do, because going through Oak Ridge will put you all the way out at Exit 356, which is well past the bumper to bumper traffic that will be sitting on I-40 between Cedar Bluff and Campbell Station.

 

[WallyBalls]

But you're also in plant traffic at 5pm if you go through Oak Ridge.

I'd check TDOT smartway before you left, if there's not an accident, I'd probably take my chances on the interstate.

 

[bleedorange0037]

But you're also in plant traffic at 5pm if you go through Oak Ridge.

I'd check TDOT smartway before you left, if there's not an accident, I'd probably take my chances on the interstate.

The overwhelming majority of plant traffic is leaving OR and headed for West Knoxville. It's not bad at all headed into town from Knoxville.

 

[crusse10]

You'll have 4 hours to go roughly 2.5 hours. Even with traffic, you'll be fine.

 

[KnoxVillain]

The overwhelming majority of plant traffic is leaving OR and headed for West Knoxville. It's not bad at all headed into town from Knoxville.

He's not heading in to town. He's headed west in the afternoon.

 

[bleedorange0037]

He's not heading in to town. He's headed west in the afternoon.

I should have been clearer. By "town", I meant Oak Ridge. The traffic isn't bad coming from Knoxville to and through OR. Most people leaving the lab are going the other way towards West Knoxvillle.

 

[WallyBalls]

I should have been clearer. By "town", I meant Oak Ridge. The traffic isn't bad coming from Knoxville to and through OR. Most people leaving the lab are going the other way towards West Knoxvillle.

That's true.

Ultimately though, most of the alternates seem like an awfully big side trips (time you factor in extra distance, traffic lights, etc) to avoid some traffic that isn't really guaranteed to be that bad. The changes they made at the Lovell exit seem to have helped a little.

I'd just try to grind it out on the interstate and be done with it. That's just me though.

 

[ajvol01]

That's true.

Ultimately though, most of the alternates seem like an awfully big side trips (time you factor in extra distance, traffic lights, etc) to avoid some traffic that isn't really guaranteed to be that bad. The changes they made at the Lovell exit seem to have helped a little.

I'd just try to grind it out on the interstate and be done with it. That's just me though.

this :good!:

 

[GVF]

That's true.

Ultimately though, most of the alternates seem like an awfully big side trips (time you factor in extra distance, traffic lights, etc) to avoid some traffic that isn't really guaranteed to be that bad. The changes they made at the Lovell exit seem to have helped a little.

I'd just try to grind it out on the interstate and be done with it. That's just me though.

Probably best advice. I-140 won't be bad, but Alcoa Hwy to get there could be heavy, though prob not stand still. My grandparents lived off John Sevier and I would take 129/140 to 40 all the time unless I specifically needed to go back through downtown for some reason to catch 40.

 

[Coug]

Going west on I40 at 5pm the interstate is always backed up from the Middlebrook Pk/Alcoa exit until you get to the Papermill Rd exit because of the I640 loop.

 

[RockyTop411]

I guess I'm just going to take my chance and try the interstate and hope I get out of the meeting early. I don't know Knoxville well enough to waste time by getting lost, but thank you guys very much for all info, I mean, my road rage could change my mind.