The Wilcox Tunnel will be closed for six months, but when it reopens in February, Chattanooga officials say it will look like new.
City spokeswoman Lacie Stone said in a statement last week the city is pouring more than $2 million into the 83-year-old tunnel for a "substantial renovation." The city aims to make safety improvements, add brighter lights and recoat the interior of the tunnel to stop perennial water seepage.
The Wilcox Tunnel is the area's oldest unrenovated tunnel, and residents at a public meeting in February called it an "eyesore." They said people who live near the tunnel were effectively being discriminated against because other tunnels, such as the Missionary Ridge (McCallie) Tunnels, the Bachman Tubes and Stringer's Ridge Tunnel, all have been renovated in recent years.
However, those tunnels are owned by the state. The Wilcox Tunnel is the only one wholly owned by Chattanooga taxpayers.
The renovations are the second choice for the Wilcox Tunnel. Early this year, the city reapplied for a $27 million federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery - or TIGER - grant.
If it got the grant, the city would build a second tunnel next to the current one to separate opposing traffic. The total cost would be about $50 million, according to the city.
Marissa Bell, another city spokeswoman, said Friday the U.S. Department of Transportation has not yet announced the awards for the TIGER grant this year. The city tried once before, unsuccessfully, for the grant.
Without the grant, the city would have to raise property taxes by a dollar over one year, from $2.309 to $3.309 per $100 of assessed value, to pay for the work.
The tax bill for a $250,000 home would be $625 higher. The owner would pay $2,068 in annual property taxes instead of $1,443. And the owner of a $100,000 home would pay $827 instead of $577 in annual taxes, or $250 more.
Cars pass through the Wilcox Tunnel on Friday, April 18, 2014, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Chattanooga has applied for a $27 million federal grant to help fund a project to build a second tunnel through Missionary Ridge and use each tunnel for one-way traffic.To fund the renovation over five years, the $2.309 levy would have to increase by 20 cents per $100.
But Stone has said a tax increase to pay for a new tunnel is not in the cards.
In the meantime, drivers will have to use detours. Westbound traffic is asked to go north on Tunnel Boulevard to New York Avenue, to Campbell Street, to Glass Street and then south on North Chamberlain Avenue. That route adds about 10 minutes to travel time, according to the Chattanooga Department of Transportation.
Eastbound traffic is asked to travel south on Dodson Avenue to East Third Street, to North Willow Street, then east on McCallie Avenue, north on North Germantown and finally north on Tunnel Boulevard. That trip is expected to take 15 minutes longer, CDOT officials say.
City Councilman Russell Gilbert, who represents residents near the tunnel, said he's trying to do what the community has asked him to do.
"In the past, when we talked about the new tunnel and the TIGER grant, it was always in the plan to renovate this tunnel," Gilbert said.
Gilbert worked with Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke to agree to start the renovation on the existing tunnel ahead of the grant money.
"I think it will be a positive thing. I believe that even the fact that some people feel that it's narrow, they won't feel the same way when it's finished," Gilbert said. "We are trying to make it better, make it more safe. When it comes to the tunnel, we want it to be good for the community."
Contact staff writer Louie Brogdon at lbrogdon@timesfreepress.com, @glbrogdoniv on Twitter or at 423-757-6481.