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Zach Wamp
Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., said Tuesday a new environmental study is needed on the part of U.S. Highway 64 that winds through the Ocoee Gorge, and he called on Gov. Phil Bredesen to make widening the road a priority.
“The governors (in Tennessee and North Carolina) would have to put up the cost share,” Rep. Wamp said. “I believe they ought to do it.”
TDOT spokeswoman Julie Oaks said Tuesday that money already has been set aside for a study.
“It’s not really the case that the governor needs to approve it,” she said.
Speaking this week to business owners, residents and officials who describe themselves as Ocoee stakeholders, Rep. Wamp said a 2003 environmental impact statement conducted by the Tennessee Department of Transportation was inadequate. The study estimated the cost of widening the road at $1.5 billion to $2.3 billion.
Much of the cost came from building bridges across streams feeding the Ocoee River, Rep. Wamp said.
“We need to do a new EIS, and I don’t want to see bridges crossing the river, I’ll tell you that,” he said.
Lydia Lenker, Gov. Bredesen’s spokeswoman, did not respond Tuesday to an e-mailed request for comment.
Ms. Oaks said the Appalachian Regional Commission, a federal body commissioned to promote growth and development, will pay for 80 percent of the preliminary study costs, while the state pays the rest.
The last environmental study cost $642,000 but expired after three years, Ms. Oaks said.
TDOT officials said the state plans to hire an engineer to conduct a transportation planning report, which is the first step in the preliminary engineering. The report will offer at least four road alignments through or around the Ocoee Gorge between Ocoee and Ducktown, Tenn., officials said.
Ms. Oaks said such a report usually costs between $50,000 and $75,000, but this one could be cost twice that because of the mountainous terrain.
Ms. Oaks said a new study is needed to better explain the need for the road and how the area’s economy could be affected if a road was built.
A new economic development study by Wilbur Smith Associates, a Knoxville consulting firm, will be included in the planning report, according to Southeast Tennessee Development Director Beth Jones.
Ms. Jones said TDOT should start the environmental impact statement in August. It usually takes two to three years to complete an EIS, TDOT officials said.
Cliff has worked for the Times Free Press for five years and covers Chattanooga city government. He previously covered Rhea County, as well as transportation and growth and development in Southeast Tennessee. A native of Maryville, Tenn., Cliff graduated in 2003 from the University of Tennessee with a bachelor’s degree in communications with an emphasis on journalism. Before coming to Chattanooga, he was a crime reporter with Hernando Today, a supplement of The Tampa (Fla.) ...
