CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Bradley County has agreed to the eventual closing of a little-used road through the Wacker Chemical site.
Gary Farlow, Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce president and CEO, said Wednesday the road will remain open for now but will be closed when the state builds an access road to the area.
County commissioners Tuesday evening voted to abandon the right-of-way for McBryant Road and a short section of Mouse Creek Road and Old Lower River Road. McBryant Road also crosses some Olin Chemical property.
It all is contingent on getting an indication from the Tennessee Department of Transportation on when the new access road will be built, Farlow said Tuesday.
“I live in that area, and I know McBryant Road doesn’t get a lot of traffic,” County Commissioner Terry Caywood said. “But Old Lower River Road does get traffic.”
The plan eventually is to close McBryant Road first, Farlow said.
“The issue for both Wacker and Olin is security. They prefer not to have a lot of traffic driving next to their facilities with a lot of piping that’s going to be crossing that road,” Farlow said.
Farlow said Wednesday that a lot of activity continues toward developing the $1 billion chemical plant.
“Many activities are taking place, although nothing is visible at the site,” he said.
Money for the road closing comes from the county’s grant for Wacker and will be administered through the Southeast Tennessee Development District.
The district administers the state’s $64 million bond issue for the project and the local $5 million commitment.
County Commissioner J. Adam Lowe said he understands the development district’s charge to administer the local funds will not exceed $50,000 over over three years.
Lowe pointed out the county is not paying the usual 5 percent administration fee, “which would be millions.”
“We are paying up to $50,000 for administration of this grant out of our county portion,” he said. “In the future we might consider administering this ourselves if there are savings.”