Interested citizens, business owners and elected officials are encouraged to attend a workshop concerning the potential for America's Byway designations along U.S. 25 and Highway 321 running through Cocke County.

The workshop will be held at the Community Center on Prospect Ave. from 1-3 p.m on Monday, May 19. 

This workshop will present recommendations from the 25E draft corridor plan prepared by the five counties through which this byway passes: Claiborne, Grainger, Hamblen, Jefferson and Cocke. An overview of the future Highway 321 project will also be presented. The objective of this byway project is to make more travelers aware of the exceptional recreational and heritage resources that lie within our region. In the future, the byway hopes to make this portion of Eastern Tennessee an even more distinctive and appealing travel destination. 

According to Linda Lewanski, tourism director for Cocke County, 'This project is oriented toward investments that will benefit both residents and travelers.  For example, if we obtain funding to improve our parks, trails, or scenic pull-offs this will benefit residents as well as our visitors. In the same way, signs on our history or improvements to our local museums will help the region's young people develop a higher awareness of what makes this region so special.'

The workshop will be facilitated by John Whiteman, a nationally recognized byway expert who will review the draft plan's recommendations and describe what the byway can mean for the region.

For more information on the byway, please contact Lewanski at 423-625-9675.