CHATTANOOGA | Interstate and Roadway Projects

[MidTenn1]

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) will be making improvements to the entrances to the very busy Hamilton Place district which features one of the busier shopping districts in Tennessee. According to the Chattanooga Times Free Press (not free!) it will cost around $50 million.  Per the CTFP;

Quote

A new reconstruction project at the Hamilton Place Boulevard interchange could be ready to go out to bidders by summer, according to the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

...

The project scope also includes three bridges, at least nine retaining walls, intelligent transportation system capability, lighting and one noise wall at the north end of the project along I-75 southbound to shield an apartment complex and nearby neighborhoods from traffic noise, according to TDOT documents.

My diagram which combines official TDOT renderings with some of my labeling;

[MLBrumby]

That interchange is a mess!  I hope those light-colored rectangles are flyovers, but the real problem is on Shallowford.  That's a flustercuck!  BTW: that area of Chattanooga is quickly urbanizing. 

[MidTenn1]

Yes, those rectangles apparently represent flyovers. This project will eliminate one interchange along that section of I-75 and much of the associated merging-diverging delay and safety issues.

[MLBrumby]

Cambridge Square-type project planned for Chattanooga’s South Broad area

$60 million development to hold retail, offices, housing, green space

A new development in the burgeoning southend, at Broad St. and 33rd St.  From the TFP:  https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2023/feb/18/cambridge-square-type-project-chattanooga-tfp/

The title references a "urban" development in Ooltewah called Cambridge Square, which is well-done for a suburban development. Town square surrounded by retail and residential. 

https://goo.gl/maps/W5GNqmmxbq3QcRSF7

[MidTenn1]

Some thoughts on the costs of widening I-24 in Tennessee from 4-lanes (two in each direction) to six-lanes (three in each direction) from Chattanooga to Murfreesboro. 

A project to widen I-70 across the state of Missouri from 4-lanes to six-lanes (three in each direction) is seeking approval from the MO Legislature. The 192-mile Missouri proposal is estimated to cost $2.8 Billion. From the May 10, 2023, Missourinet news source:

Quote

The shovels could come out soon to mark the start of widening Interstate-70 in Missouri. The state legislature has passed a state operating budget proposal that would designate $2.8 billion to widen Interstate-70 to at least three lanes in both directions from Blue Springs to Wentzville.

Points;

• To widen to at least three lanes in both directions, the cost is estimated to be $2.8 billion for 192 miles. That works out to be $14.6 million per mile in Missouri.
• At $14.6 million per mile to widen to 3 lanes in each direction in Tennessee, the 105 miles from I-24 from Murfreesboro to Chattanooga in Tennessee, minus the existing 6 miles of 3 lanes in each direction on the eastern slope of the Cumberland Plateau, and minus 4 miles through Georgia are now 95 miles.
• 95 times $14.6 million = $1.34 billion.
• Then add the additional costs of widenings up the western slope of the plateau plus the additional costs of widening through the rugged valleys east of Jasper plus widening the bridge over the lake plus widening from Georgia to Chattanooga between the slopes of Lookout Mountain and the Tennessee River and you might be looking at closer to $2 billion.
• It would likely be staged into about six different projects with a 10-to-15-year buildout.

The big questions are does the Federal Highway Administration participate in funding and what do you do about Georgia? And why should Georgia pay for expensive improvements that only help Tennessee?

The articles regarding the Missouri project seem to indicate the state is paying for all of it. I have no idea why the FHWA is apparently not participating in the funding. The Missouri plan would reserve $1.4 billion in state funding and borrow $1.4 billion to complete the project.

Edited October 20, 2023 by MidTenn1