State to move forward with toll bridge project

Officials say they’re encouraged about the prospect of a North Hamilton County road project that would include a toll bridge from Soddy-Daisy to Harrison, but there’s still a lot of work to be done.

“Our next step will be to come back and update our feasibility study,” said Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner Gerald Nicely. “I probably think that’ll take eight or nine months.”

The update would include traffic from the new Volkswagen plant, Wacker Chemical and other businesses coming into the region, Mr. Nicely said.

After that, he said, would come an environmental impact study, which will “be pretty expensive” and take about two years.

Mr. Nicely met Tuesday morning with a committee of county commissioners, the county and city mayors, area lawmakers and local transportation officials to gauge interest in the project. Committee members had almost nothing but good things to say about the potential for a toll bridge connecting Soddy-Daisy and Harrison across the Tennessee River.

County Mayor Claude Ramsey said he thought the bridge would help county emergency services cover the whole county more effectively.

Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield said it’s good that TDOT is looking toward tolls.

“I think we have missed some opportunities in the years I’ve been in government because we have shied away from using tolls,” he said. “In this case, I think it’s an excellent solution because those who use it will pay for it, and those who don’t will not have their normal funding for transportation services diminished.”

State Rep. Bill Harmon, D-Dunlap, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said the project will not happen without a toll.

“If we can’t work the toll thing out, it’s a lot of paperwork for nothing,” he said. “There’s not any money to do these type projects (without tolls). It doesn’t look like the Legislature’s going to entertain anything for the next two or three years.”

State Rep. JoAnne Favors, D-Chattanooga, said the public would accept the toll once they’re used to it.

County Commissioner Bill Hullander, whose district covers northern Hamilton County on the east side of the river, said people there are very excited about the possibility of a bridge.

“That’s one of the top things people ask me, when I’m at a community meeting or a town-hall meeting, ‘What’s the latest on the bridge?’” he said.

Commissioner Fred Skillern, who represents the western side of the river, said the bridge would make life more convenient.

“We can go to Dunlap or we can go to Rhea County 45 minutes before we can get to Hamilton Place,” he said.