With the new University Commons retail complex now open, our campus community has more local shopping options. We also now have the option of getting there by taking the Vol Line free trolley.
The Walmart opened earlier this month and the development’s other anchor tenant—Publix—opens Thursday. UT’s VolShop opened last week and grand opening activities are set for Saturday.
Knoxville Area Transit’s Vol Line trolley, which makes a loop from the Civic Coliseum to Cumberland Avenue, has now added a stop at University Commons as well as stops along Volunteer Boulevard in front of Hodges Library, Circle Park, the Rock, the Student Health Building, and TRECS.
The trolley runs every ten minutes from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday and on Fridays from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. The Vol Line will run every fifteen minutes 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Saturdays, but won’t run on days when the Vols football team plays at home.
University Commons is accessible via Kingston Pike to the north and via a new light and turn lane on the bridge along Joe Johnson Drive. The entrance is from the bridge that connects the main campus and the agriculture campus. Parking is located under the retail complex.
Campus community members who choose to walk should take only the Joe Johnson Drive route. There are no sidewalks for safe pedestrian travel via the Kingston Pike entrance.
For a map and schedule of the Vol Line trolley route, visit Knoxville Area Transit’s website.