Chattanooga seeks $65 million for second Wilcox Tunnel

Vehicles travel Monday, April 4, 2016 through the Wilcox Tunnel. The tunnel was recently reopened to traffic after renovations.
Vehicles travel Monday, April 4, 2016 through the Wilcox Tunnel. The tunnel was recently reopened to traffic after renovations.

Chattanooga is seeking nearly $40 million in federal money to help pay for a estimated $65 million expansion of Wilcox Tunnel.

It marks the fifth time the city has applied for a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant - known as a TIGER - to build a second tube at the Wilcox Tunnel. In 2015, Chattanooga asked for $27 million, when the project was estimated to cost only $52 million.

At a recent meeting, Chattanooga Transportation Department Administrator Blythe Bailey answered questions from City Council members about the $13 million increase to the project's total price tag.

A soil study revealed that about one-third of the tunnel's length would require more structural work than previously expected to bore through it, Bailey said.

"It would be nice if we found out the cost would be less, but it's good to find out," he said. "It's good to have a better number now rather than later."

Council members said they were more optimistic about the city's chance to get the grant this time around.

Last year, Chattanooga's grant application made it to No. 197 out of 5,000 submitted to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Councilman Yusuf Hakeem said.

Despite the denial of the 2015 application, it was well received, Bailey said. It comes down to "a numbers thing," considering that only 4 percent of the applicants were awarded the grant.

The average TIGER award is $14.5 million, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation website.

"I'm of the opinion that this opportunity that we are applying for [speaks] to the perseverance and tenacity of this city," said Hakeem, citing the resolve of Mayor Andy Berke, the council and the community in general to continue to push for the Wilcox Tunnel expansion. "I'm just so thankful that we are of the mindset to go forward on this grant."

The tunnel is located in District 9 and provides a corridor to District 5, which council members Hakeem and Russell Gilbert represent, respectively.

However, it is used by residents from all over Chattanooga, and is not an asset only for the nearby communities, Hakeem said.

Councilman Chris Anderson thanked Hakeem and Gilbert for keeping the project at the forefront.

The Wilcox Tunnel was recently reopened after undergoing a $1.53 million makeover that was launched in August 2015, after the city learned it had been denied TIGER money for the fourth time in a row. Improvements included new lighting, a better pedestrian railing and new water sealant.

Chattanooga owns the tunnel, unlike other area tunnels that are owned and maintained by the state.

Wilcox Tunnel opened April 22, 1931. It is named for Hamilton County Highway Commission Chairman T.S. Wilcox.

Contact staff writer Paul Leach at 423-757-6481 or pleach@timesfreepress.com.

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