The estimated price tag on widening 10 miles of Interstate 24 from Chattanooga to Interstate 59 across the Georgia state line has more than doubled since the state set aside almost $250 million for the project in 2025.
The topography of the I-24 West corridor limits options, state Transportation Commissioner Will Reid said Tuesday during Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp’s State of the County event. All the options are expensive now.
“You’ve got a river on one side, a railroad on the other and a bluff,” Reid said. “Right now, we have $250 million assigned to that project, but I will tell you, to really get what we need to fix that area, we need about $300 million more.”
The cost of road building has increased exponentially since Reid became an engineer, he said Tuesday.
Reid said he was asked by state House Transportation Committee Chair Rep. Dan Howell, R-Cleveland, about construction costs to build a highway.