CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- For years, many have dealt with the congestion caused by the construction on Interstates 24 and 75 in Chattanooga.
TDOT says they have reached the end of a major phase of that project, as phase two of the 24/75 widening has been completed.
With the ending of that widening project at Interstates 24 and 75, TDOT Commissioner Will Reid says there is still much more work to complete to get the Chattanooga area interstates to the capacity they need.
Reid said, “I think what you see is the continued investment in Hamilton County and the surrounding areas by the state. This is an economic driver for the state like all of our big urban areas and we take that into account when we select projects and make investments across the state.”
He says TDOT have their next major projects lined up in their 10 year plan.
The ongoing construction at Hamilton Place Mall to build their new interchange is expected to be complete by summer 2027.
Beyond that ongoing project, The next major interstate section planned to be addressed is the section of Interstate 24 between downtown Chattanooga and the Georgia state line through Lookout Valley.
That is currently being designed with a projected start date of next year, with a goal of increasing that road’s capacity from two to three lanes each way.
Additionally, a more long term project is I-75 between Ooltewah and Cleveland, to get it up to three lanes each way.
That according to the plan probably will not start construction until 2032.
Reid says since Tennessee is a pay as you go state in terms of funding road construction, they have to be deliberate in their processes.
He said, “There’s more need than there are funds to be able to address that.”
Additionally, he mentioned that this project, which was finished a few months after schedule, had to navigate the impacts of the historic August flood which had the highway underwater.
He said, “Those are things you can’t plan for, so it’s one of those things where you have to manage it in real time and the real impact is to the schedule, the project site itself, and then the surrounding areas.”
He added that he thanks the community for dealing with the inconveniences a major project like this creates.
Reid said, “Imagine performing heart surgery on a patient that’s walking around. That’s what we do every day when we build projects like this, big interstate projects, we have to be able to manage that traffic.”
