Need traffic advice for I 40 (Knoxville: travel, moving, street)

[bloink]

The last two times I passed through Knoxville on I 40 I got totally tied up in traffic around downtown for miles.
Question: Is it better to go around on 640 if I am trying to make time travelling West through Knoxville towards Nashville? Is there a particular time of day when downtown on 40 isn't bad?

Thanks,

M

[hiknapster]

May 1 on, you will HAVE to take 640, since I-40 will be closed through downtown Knoxville.

[NJDevil]

when it's not during rush hours, I thought traffic on 40 flowed pretty good. Between 5-6 pm I always see more traffic headed east than west, but that's because it goes from 3 lanes to 2 and bottles up. If traffic holds you up real bad, you could always take a sidestreet around downtown (Summit Hill-Western or Middlebrook maybe)....

[Barking Spider]

Non rush hour times it's kind of a wash. 640 usually is always moving OK, where 40 will sometimes back up in downtown.

[Eat]

I never take 640 unless there is a stop out that way that I want to make. I also plan my trips to never be in Knoxville during rush hour.

[myndsplyntur]

Downtown is fine as long as you aren't travelling through between the hours of 4:45PM and 6:15PM. But again doesn't matter on May 1

[knoxgarden]

Easiest way to tell is to read the electronic bulletin boards. There's one before 640 going both east and west. It will tell you the travel time via 640 and I-40 to the same point (Usually Asheville Hwy eastbound and Papermill westbound).
It's kept up-to-date and I've found it to be accurate. Sometimes it gets replaced with accident info or an Amber Alert.
Also a good idea to check TDOT Smartways. They have cameras along the route.
TDOT SmartWay Information System - Tennessee Department of Transportation