The Hamilton County Commission on Wednesday approved putting a key piece of infrastructure in place for the Volkswagen plant site.
Commissioners awarded a $1.7 million contract to Talley Construction to replace a Hickory Valley Road bridge going over railroad tracks leading into the site. Todd Leamon, the county engineer, said this is a piece of a project that will ultimately improve access from Highway 58 to the industrial park and Interstate 75. The improvements would allow access to the interstate without having to travel on Bonny Oaks Drive, he said.
“(The bridge) will tie all that infrastructure in,” Mr. Leamon said.
Tim Andrews, director of the Hamilton County Railroad Authority, said the bridge will be large enough to handle three rail lines running under it.
“(Volkswagen) will be shipping a larger percentage of their vehicles by rail and we’ll need to handle the larger number of cars that will go through there now,” Mr. Andrews said.
He said the line would connect to the Norfolk Southern rail line at Noah Reid Road. The project will be paid for with a $874,333 federal grant and a local match from the city of Chattanooga and the County.