When Volkswagen builds its first car in Chattanooga in 2011, some of the road work at Interstate 75’s nearby Exit 11 may be ongoing — years after federal budget constraints snarled progress there, according to state transportation officials.
The state plans on widening and adding an additional connector to highways near the Ooltewah I-75 interchange to ease an already congested area, said Wes Hughen, Tennessee Department of Transportation project manager.
“Do we wish it was further along? I think everyone does, but it’s just not,” Mr. Hughen said. “We have what we have, and now Volkswagen says they are coming.”
The state will construct a road to extend from the Enterprise South interchange at Interstate 75 to where Apison Pike meets Old Lee Highway. That’s in addition to a separate project to widen Apison Pike between Old Lee Highway and Little Debbie Parkway. There are plans to eventually widen Apison Pike to Ooltewah-Ringgold Road.
For complete coverage see tomorrow’s Times Free Press.
Adam Crisp covers education issues for the Times Free Press. He joined the paper's staff in 2007 and initially covered crime, public safety, courts and general assignment topics. Prior to Chattanooga, Crisp was a crime reporter at the Savannah Morning News and has been a reporter and editor at community newspapers in southeast Georgia. In college, he led his student paper to a first-place general excellence award from the Georgia College Press Association. He earned ...
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