News
June 10, 2026 by Tammy Cheek
A portion of Boring Road connecting to Kingston Pike has been closed, and town officials plan to make the closure permanent.
“If you look at the current situation, you have cars turning from Kingston Pike to that little Boring Road path, going up through there and cutting through,” Farragut Mayor Ron Williams said. “Right now, that’s closed. It will be permanently closed. You’ll no longer be able to cut through.”
“There are people who use it to cut through who are complaining,” he said. “But people who live there are thankful.
“The people who live out there are ecstatic about it because all of them get out and walk,” Williams said. “With all that traffic going through there, walking is an issue.”
Williams said sidewalks in the area eventually will be connected.
He said Knox County Schools is widening Boring Road from Smith Road to the new school entrance.
“Knox County Schools is building this entrance, and this entrance off Boring will be for the buses and the staff,” he said. “The school staff will park in front of the school, which faces west.”
When buses enter, “they will queue for pickup and drop-off,” Williams said. Parents will use Village Commons Boulevard, which will loop to Boring Road and back.
“This will be a situation where the buses and soccer moms will be divorced, so you will not have a conflict like what you do at the other schools,” he said.
Read More
June 10, 2026 by Tammy Cheek
Reactions were mixed regarding the closure of part of Boring Road, when residents were asked to respond to a flyer distributed in their newspaper box.
While some want the road at Kingston Pike to remain open, others are relieved it is closed.
Against the closure:
• Darrell Douglas: “My wife and I are residents of Baldwin Park. It’s my understanding that there were no public hearings about closing this section of Boring Road prior to the decision to close it.
“In my opinion, it would be greatly beneficial to keep access open at the Boring/Kingston Pike intersection, with both entry and exit as “right turn only,” he said. “As the number of homes along Boring Road increase, traffic will get worse with Smith Road as its only exit.
“Also, where Boring Road intersects with Smith Road, a four-way stop sign should be placed, giving traffic from all side streets at that intersection a safer way to get on to Smith or Boring Road. With the school bus and faculty traffic, plus Stonemeade residents, traffic on Boring will increase significantly.
(Editor’s note: A four-way stop is planned for the intersection of Boring Road and Smith Road).
Read More
June 10, 2026 by Tammy Cheek
Two subdivision plats will be going before Farragut Municipal Planning Commission when it meets 6 p.m., Thursday, June 18, in Farragut Town Hall.
Homestead Land Holdings presented its final plat of Phase 2 for the Grove at Boyd Station to the Town staff during a Staff/Planner meeting Tuesday, June 2. At the same meeting, Urban Engineering Inc. presented a preliminary plat for Phase 2 of Grigsby Park.
At the Grove, Town Community Development director Mark Shipley said the developers are going to the northeast in the second phase at Boyd Station Road.
“This one has 32 lots,” he said. “It’s a little over 15 acres.”
The last phase, which included the roundabout is located to the southeast of the development, Shipley said. “This [phase] is pretty much due north of that. It’s up along the Cottages at Pryse Farms.
“It’s pretty straight-forward,” he added. “The only [staff] comments are there’ll be some letters of credit for this.
Do you know if the surface course [is down]…”
“It’s not down yet,” said Thomas Krajewski, vice president of land development for Anderson Baker, development manager for Homestead. “We’ve got it queued, but we have two other projects queued as well.
“I think we’re going to get the Stonemeade [subdivision] surface course done first. We’re fully prepared to do a letter of credit in the event that it’s not ready.
Read More
June 10, 2026 by Tammy Cheek
Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen unanimously approved, on final reading, its fiscal year 2026-27 budget during its meeting Thursday, May 28.
However, resident Kimberlie Parks again questioned the need for an economic development position, as she had during the May 14 meeting when the budget passed on first reading.
“We had a business liaison function, and the staff eliminated it during staff reorganization last year,” she said. “What changed?
“Please show the public why we need this position. What kind of measurement are you going to create for this role?” Parks asked.
During a May 7 Board meeting, Alderman Alex Cain also questioned the need for the position, but he made no comment about it at the May 28 meeting.
“The economic coordinator position has been the topic of Board discussions many, many times,” Alderman Joe LaCroix said. “The direction from the Board is policy, so we would like to see that position created.
“The key performance indicator is going to be built into the description in this administrative role that goes through Mr. Smoak’s area of control,” he said. “Just as you don’t see the KPIs for the other positions that we talk about — the engineers or Community Development — that’s an administrative piece.”
Parks responded that the comments did not answer why the position was needed.
During the May 7 meeting, Vice Mayor Scott Meyer said he believes there has been a “discombobulated effort for business development in Farragut for a while.”
“I think this position meets that need,” Meyer said.
Read More
June 10, 2026 by
farragutpress is now accepting political profile submissions for the 2026 election cycle.
As the 2026 election season approaches, farragutpress is providing political candidates with an opportunity to share their message directly with readers through candidate profiles published in the newspaper.
• Each candidate may submit one profile, and the written content should be 400 words or fewer.
• One photograph may accompany the profile.
• While the newspaper will not alter the substance or message of submitted profiles, it reserves the right to make spelling and grammar corrections as needed / AP style.
• All submissions will be reviewed by the Publisher prior to print deadlines to ensure they meet established standards.
• Candidates need to provide contact information with their submission in case clarification or follow-up is necessary.
Candidates may email their political profiles to editor@farragutpress.com
The deadline for political profiles prior to the August 6th election is 12 p.m. on Friday, July 10th.
Deadline for profiles is Friday by 12 p.m. prior to the following week’s publication.
