The so-called Yellow Brick Road through Chattanooga's Enterprise South industrial park may get detoured.
City officials said the potential change to the planned road's route, along with other work, will improve links to Volkswagen's massive auto assembly plant, open up the rest of the industrial park and speed traffic in the area.
Rather than run the roadway behind the VW plant to tie into state Highway 58, planners are looking at widening Hickory Valley Road from two lanes to three or even five through Enterprise South.
"It's a much better option and realistic," said Steve Leach, the city's public works administrator. The original route requires an expensive, elevated road over a large wetlands, he said.
Also, a new state road is under study to connect Highway 58 directly to the rear of VW's supplier park. It would give VW better access to Highway 58 and Highway 153.
The road work under study is designed to help the carmaker and bolster the marketability of the rest of the industrial park, said Trevor Hamilton, the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce's vice president for economic development.
"It will benefit not just business but citizens as well, providing a more efficient way to move traffic in and around the site," he said.
The first leg of the Yellow Brick Road, dubbed so because of its perceived ability to tap Enterprise South's potential, was opened a couple of weeks ago.
Officially called Volkswagen Drive, the one-mile, four-lane section offers a direct tie between the VW auto assembly plant and Interstate 75.
Leach said the road's original route through Enterprise South was conceived in the late 1990s. That was years before Chattanooga landed the $1 billion auto plant that's to start production early next year.
"We know more about environmental issues" at the site, Leach said.
Also, the new route appears to make more sense from engineering and cost standpoints, Leach said.
The route would go from VW Drive to existing Discovery Drive, where a new roundabout is now being built. Discovery ties into Hickory Valley Road near a new fire station.
Leach said Hickory Valley Road would be re-engineered to take out "S" turns and provide a better link between Bonny Oaks Drive and Highway 58 than now exists.
At the same time, the state is studying where exactly to build the new two-lane road from Highway 58 to the rear of VW's supplier park.
Jennifer Flynn, a Tennessee Department of Transportation spokeswoman, said construction is to start next year with the road to open 12 to 18 months later.
She said that artery is expected to tie into Highway 58 near Clark Road, which is about a mile from Hickory Valley Road.
Guenther Scherelis, general manager of communication for VW in Chattanooga, said the automaker supports construction of the road.
The planned road's cost isn't known yet, Flynn said.
Leach also didn't have a price tag yet for Hickory Valley Road improvements, but he hoped a federal grant secured earlier by U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., will pay for most of the work. He said the federal money requires a 20 percent local match.
Leach said that if plans for Hickory Valley are finalized, work could start in 2011.