October 3, 2007 - The City of Knoxville will begin construction on the new Knoxville Station Transit Center in November after receiving the final approval for the $27 million project.

The Federal Transit Administration issued its finding that the project would have no significant environmental impact to the city during the last week in September.

That approval was the last one the city needed to move forward with the work and allowed Knoxville to close the deal to purchase the 1.57 acre tract at the east end of the Church Avenue Viaduct.

It is the current location of American Accessories and the city purchased the property and building for $1.85 million.

"I'm very pleased with the decision of the Federal Transit Administration and we're eager to get started making this much-talked about station into a reality," said Mayor Bill Haslam. "This has been a long process and a lot of people have worked very hard to get us to this point."

"In particular I want to thank our Senior Director of Policy Development Bill Lyons; Jeff Galyon with the Public Building Authority; Madeleine Weil, the city's deputy director of policy development; Law Director Morris Kizer and Cindy McGinnis, general manager of Knoxville Area Transit," Haslam added. "This new station is much-needed and it will serve our citizens very well for many years to come."

Galyon, the PBA's director of project development and information technology, said that currently planners are finishing up the preliminary engineering and moving forward with the final design of the building.

He said that it is tentatively slated for completion in the fall of 2009.

Transit consultants and a design committee had looked at more than 30 potential sites downtown before deciding that the best place for the new Knoxville Station would at the east end of the Church Avenue Viaduct near the city's Civic Coliseum.

They based that decision on a combination of location, construction costs and operating costs.

"This will provide great service to the thousands of people who use public transportation in our city and will make it an even more attractive option in the future," Lyons said. "We want to grow our ridership and this will help us do it."

The project is being funded with a mix of federal, state and local fund with the city providing about $3.5 million for the project.