One of Chattanooga's main downtown arteries is about to develop a clog that will require a bypass, but it should come back in better shape than ever.
Starting Monday, M.L. King Boulevard between Market Street and Georgia Avenue will be shut down for 100 days as part of the reconstruction of Miller Park.
Downtown commuters will find big changes in traffic patterns while crews work to relocate a major sewer line, create a wide, tree-lined median and install pedestrian pavers on M.L. King between Miller Park and Miller Plaza.
The redesigned park, built up to street level and housing a performance space, restrooms and landscaping designed to echo the regions' landforms and its plants and trees, is part of a $14 million district revamp involving M.L. King Boulevard and Patten Parkway.
Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke described the comprehensive makeover as a "once-in-a-generation investment" in the city's future, extending the downtown renewal that began at the riverfront and spread into the center city.
Officials with the mayor's office and the city's transportation and public works departments last week described what will be taking place on M.L. King and how they've tried to help ease the strain on downtown drivers while one of the city's main east-west routes is blocked.
Timeline
› Nov. 13, 2017: Full closure of M.L. King Boulevard between Miller Plaza and Miller Park› Mid-February 2018: King Boulevard reopens (closure expected to last 100 days)› Mid-February to mid-March 2018: Georgia Avenue between M.L. King Boulevard and Patten Parkway› Summer 2018: New Miller Park opens
The biggest change for drivers coming from U.S. Highway 27 will be an added left-turn lane from King north onto Market Street. The far right lane will become a right-turn-only lane. Down a block, a left-turn lane will be added from Market onto East 10th Street.
Jonathan Susman, with the city transportation department, suggested commuters driving downtown from Interstate 24 think about using the new 13th Street exit from U.S. 27 and using Main Street, Fourth Street and Central Avenue to get into or out of the city core.
Market Street and Georgia Avenue will remain open in both directions during the M.L. King closure, and from there, drivers can use side streets, such as Seventh and Eighth, Lindsay and 10th, to get around.
The city has created maps at http://connect.chattanooga.gov/miller-park/ showing alternate ways of getting where people need to go during the closure.
"We really are trying to get ahead of this, to get people to start planning out their routes," Susman said at a public briefing Thursday.
Susman acknowledged the King closure is likely to worsen traffic already congested because of the rebuilding of U.S. 27, but said there's not a whole lot the city can do other than try to work with the Tennessee Department of Transportation as much as possible.
Jermaine Freeman, with the mayor's office, said refreshing the center city is aimed at encouraging more people to live, work and play downtown. Miller Park is part of the city's Innovation District, a push to capitalize on Chattanooga's Gig City image.
He said city leaders saw that Miller Park, built in the 1970s as a "center of the city oasis," was under- used. They wanted to make something attractive and welcoming in that central space.
"In a lot of great cities you have great green spaces," Freeman said.
Eric Booker, with Chattanooga Public Works, conceded the downtown street closure will be a headache but said residents and visitors will be pleased with the result: a curbless, tree-shaded boulevard of pedestrian and vehicle pavers that serves as a plaza, integrating the two parks.
What people won't see, he said, is the added infrastructure, from a larger sewer line to water and electrical supplies that potentially could support the entire M.L. King/Patten Parkway area from Market Street to the Bessie Smith Cultural Center as a major festival space.
"We're putting in all the bells and whistles so this thing's ready to go for an event," Booker said.
Susman and Booker said the contractor has a firm 100-day deadline to get work on the road done. Once it's complete and King reopens, Booker said, Georgia Avenue between Patten Parkway and M.L. King will close for 30 more days to complete the sewer installation.
Contact staff writer Judy Walton at jwalton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6416.