Funding to replace Chattanooga's Wilcox Tunnel again denied

photo Money hoped for to update the Wilcox Tunnel has fallen through the cracks and a new tunnel will not be built for now.

For a fourth time, Chattanooga has been overlooked for a multimillion-dollar federal grant to replace the Wilcox Tunnel through Missionary Ridge that has been in disrepair for decades.

This summer, city officials applied for a $27 million grant that would require a local match of $25 million. While the city was awarded a $400,000 grant from the same pool of funds to study the feasibility of building a light-rail route, the much larger request was denied.

Instead, city Transportation Director Blythe Bailey said, the city is moving forward with plan B -- studying how much it will cost to repair the old tunnel by creating better drainage, fixing dim lights and adding a new coating to seal the outside of the concrete structure.

Once the study -- approved by the City Council this summer -- is complete, the city will close the tunnel and make all the necessary repairs in spring 2015, Bailey said.

"Regardless if we got the grant or not, we find out what will have the most impact and what's the best way to improve the tunnel," he said.

The Wilcox Tunnel, a major connector to and from East Chattanooga, has 16,000 to 18,000 drivers passing through it each day. It has water leakage and ventilation problems and is narrow -- about 24 feet wide -- with 3-foot-wide sidewalks.

Last year, after the city didn't receive federal funding on its third request, Mayor Andy Berke and other city employees canvassed neighborhoods to ask what fixes residents would like to see. A year later, Bailey said, those concerns are being taken into consideration in the study.

Officials also tested a new drainage system last winter to see whether they could stop pools of water from falling onto cars and the roadway. That process worked, Bailey said.

Councilman Yusuf Hakeem said plan B is a good start to fix some of the major issues at the tunnel, but he hopes the city will continue to apply for a federal grant to build a new tunnel.

The plan with the grant money was to create a new eastbound tunnel and repair the old tunnel to become a westbound one for traffic. Bailey said this option was ideal because the project would have expanded traffic capacity, created economic growth and meant a better connection for residents to get to their jobs and stay safe.

Contact staff writer Joy Lukachick Smith at jsmith@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659.

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