~ from the City of Knoxville’s Office of Neighborhood Empowerment

This year, the City installed speed humps in several neighborhoods as the result of their completion of the Neighborhood Traffic Safety Program (NTSP). The program’s goal is to identify the best ways to slow speeding drivers and make our residential streets safer. We anticipate the program becoming even more popular in the years to come.

One requirement of the NTSP is for applicants to get more than 50 percent of households residing on the affected streets to sign a petition. This process presents neighbors with a unique opportunity to engage with, get to know and learn more about their neighbors as well as collect their contact information. Neighbors interested in organizing are encouraged to reach out to Debbie Sharp at dsharp@knoxvilletn.gov.

Organized neighborhoods also have an opportunity to reach neighbors who are not currently involved. Some people are not aware that a neighborhood organization exists in their area. Regardless of your neighbors’ current level of participation in your organization, we hope you are willing to lend a helping hand! Your willingness to help a street within your neighborhood’s boundaries might inspire a neighbor to become more involved in other, mutually beneficial endeavors.

For additional resources for neighborhoods, please visit the Office of Neighborhood Empowerment’s website.