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To apply for the Construction Mitigation Program, visit connect.chattanooga.gov/wilcox.
Complaints from Chattanooga businesses affected by the Wilcox Tunnel closure prompted city government to develop an initiative to compensate establishments affected by road construction.
As part of the Construction Mitigation Program, the City Council in February approved distributing up to $25,000 in direct financial compensation to Wilcox area businesses, with each one eligible for up to $1,000. Applications for the program went online last week. Businesses have until mid-July to apply for funding. The application deadline is 90 days after April 15, the expected tunnel work completion date.
The city also promised to make signs for impacted businesses and pay for them to advertise in local publications.
The program was started in 2015 to help businesses survive the loss of traffic since the Wilcox Tunnel closed in August. Businesses affected by the tunnel closure will benefit first from the program, and the city plans to expand the program citywide.
But not all business operators near the tunnel are happy.
More than 16,000 people a day pass through the tunnel, according to city officials. And with the tunnel closed, several area businesses reported at least a 30 percent drop in sales. Some enterprises questioned if the city had any regard for how the tunnel closure affected their bottom line.
“I’m going to be honest with you,” said Logan Salah, general manager of Boost Mobile. “I really don’t care about $1,000, because I’m losing $1,000 a minute. I lost almost 65 percent of my business [since the tunnel closed].”
Tia Taylor-Clark, owner of Jane of Trades Upscale Resale, said $1,000 is appreciated, but it isn’t enough.
“A lot of those businesses pay more than $1,000 in rent,” she said. “It should be $1,000 for each month that the tunnel has been closed, especially since they asked for an extension and they haven’t been doing anything and now they’re trying to catch up.”
During a meeting with city officials, Clark said her business generated a profit before the tunnel renovation, but after the tunnel closed she had so little income from the store that she had to use her personal funds to support it.
After decades of complaining about the tunnel’s deterioration and it being the only tunnel in town where city buses can’t travel, residents and businesses welcomed any repairs they could get. But people started to grumble after watching days pass with a closed tunnel and no one working on it.
City officials initially said the $2 million tunnel renovation would be complete by the end of February, just six months after the renovation began.
The renovation promises better lighting, fewer water leaks, and no more icicles hanging from the tunnel ceiling in winter.
Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfree press.com or 757-6431.