A contingent of utility workers on the 300 block of East 10th Street will remain for at least another couple months as they bury electrical lines in the area.
The EPB employees have been working around an electric substation sitting between M.L. King Boulevard, the newly erected Douglas Heights apartment building and the Chattanooga Times Free Press for months behind "road closed" signs blocking off the intersection of Foster Street and East 10th Street.
The goal, said EPB spokesman John Pless, is to sink several of the power lines strung above the area as the area sees continued development. Relocating the lines under the asphalt will protect the infrastructure while decluttering the area visually.
Talley Construction workers, with EPB, make progress on burying electrical lines along Foster Street on Monday, Oct. 9, 2017, in Chattanooga, Tenn."That is a job to underground our power lines in those couple of blocks there," Pless said. "Part of the reason ... is to enhance reliability, and the other reason is to help create a more unified look along 10th Street."
He said something similar was done as Douglas Heights was erected - utilities immediately next to the site were buried in order to keep them out of the way.
"You wouldn't want anybody sitting out on their balcony sitting a few feet away from a power line," he said.
Currently, two intersections have been ripped up by dozers, and over the next several weeks, the work will be moving south down Foster Street to 11th Street. Pless said the work has been slowed at times by old, unmapped utility lines layered under the streets through years of development.
Chattanooga City Councilman Anthony Byrd, representative of Chattanooga's eighth district, including the section of downtown affected by the project, said he welcomes the improvements to the city's infrastructure skeleton, even if it's "a headache and an eyesore" in the short term.
However, he said city developers should be careful to balance such projects against the needs of businesses and residents, especially in areas steeped in a rich history. Before it was dubbed M.L. King Boulevard, the road was Ninth Street, known as the "Big Nine" - home to several black-owned retail shops, offices and entertainment venues.
"As long as we're not causing a huge displacement of people and displacement of jobs and displacement of history and heritage. Those things right there play a big part," he said.
He said investments in infrastructure can reap rewards down the line for residents, but he wants to see that happen without losing touch with the past.
"If you don't know where you've been, how can you know where you're going?" he said.
Contact staff writer Emmett Gienapp at egienapp@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6731. Follow him on Twitter @emmettgienapp.