Two Tennessee Department of Transportation Highway Response Unit, HELP Trucks work a wreck in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 75 on May 3, 2017.Commuters on Interstate 75 headed to and from Chattanooga can collectively cheer – quietly, since it’s in the earliest planning stages – the fact the state has included the Interstate 24 “split” in its transportation improvement plan, starting in 2018.
A contract to design and reconstruct the interchange from the blueprint stage to the last lane stripe will be awarded in fiscal year 2018, a Tennessee Department of Transportation spokeswoman said. Gov. Bill Haslam and TDOT Commissioner John Schroer announced the project funding Tuesday.
The interchange, just north of the Tennessee-Georgia line in Chattanooga, is part of TDOT’s $2.6 billion, three-year transportation improvement plan. The junction sees an estimated 124,000 vehicles passing through daily in an area notorious for its traffic jams.
The long-awaited project – estimated to cost $65 million, according to the IMPROVE Act project list – is part of infrastructure investments for 101 individual projects in 40 Tennessee counties, including several others in Hamilton County and surrounding counties.
TDOT spokeswoman B.J. Doughty said the project is expected to use “flyover ramp” designs – much like those in Memphis’ I-40/I-240 interchange – to allow traffic traveling in different directions to pass at varying levels. The “flyover ramp” at the northbound I-75 exit for Highway 153 is a small example of the design.