Choose another route at holidays
Holiday traffic spoils the mood. Especially when you’re sitting bumper-to-bumper in interstate traffic through Chattanooga with kids and pets getting restless in the back seat. For a better experience, consider hopping off the interstate onto an alternate route around bottlenecks scouted for you by the Tennessee Infrastructure Alliance.
During extra-busy times like the holidays, traffic balloons with families headed north and south to visit loved ones and an increased volume of 18-wheelers transporting goods inland from East Coast ports. On a normal day, an average of more than 115,000 vehicles squeeze along I-24 at Moccasin Bend, according to the Tennessee Department of Transportation. The result is time spent creeping along in traffic through the interstate interchanges, past the construction at Shallowford Road, over Missionary Ridge, around Moccasin Bend and beyond Raccoon Mountain.
The mountains and the rivers that make Chattanooga one of the most scenic cities in the country also limit the options for road building. But there are scenic surface road options that offer relief for those willing to explore. These alternative routes can be more predictable and are less prone to unexpected bottlenecks. Even with traffic lights and stop signs, they are often faster and their predictability always makes them a better experience.