With Volkswagen officials eyeing an early 2011 production start, an array of roadwork near the plant is powering up to handle traffic in light of added workers, residents and businesses.
“We’re going to be in a mess. All the infrastructure work has to be done,” said John Ballinger, president-elect of the Enterprise Gateway Council of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce. “Once it’s done, it’s going to look good.”
Dennis Malone, assistant city engineer, listed at a public forum a dozen road projects designed to aid traffic flow.
Among the work is improving Hickory Valley Road through Enterprise South industrial park, widening Bonny Oaks Drive near the VW plant and building a new road from Volkswagen Drive at Interstate 75 to Apison Pike, he said.
J.Ed. Marston, the Chamber’s vice president of marketing, said VW and other companies are planning to create nearly 3,000 jobs at Enterprise South, which sits between state Highway 58 and Bonny Oaks Drive. VW is to hire more than 2,000 people for production.
Steven Carr of Chattanooga Seating Systems, a VW supplier adjacent to the assembly plant, said it has made some seats for early test cars produced at the factory. Carr said VW expects to add a second shift this summer.
“Between now and July we’ll move from one shift to two full shifts,” he said.
Emily Houston, also of Chattanooga Seating, said the company plans to hire between 120 and 140 workers.
“Now we’re at 28 and growing quickly,” she said.
Stacey Kaufmann of Erlanger said dirt already is being moved to build the hospital’s $10 million, 32,000-square-foot health center near the VW plant.
The VW Drive center will serve the automaker’s workers along with people who live in the area.
“We’re sitting on 20 acres,” Kaufmann said about the site. “We have the potential to grow and are scaled to grow. Highway 58 is underserved from a medical standpoint.”
Malone listed several road projects to improve Jersey Pike intersections in the area near the plant.
He also said a new roundabout at VW and Discovery drives is expected to be finished in late November and reopen that entrance to the plant.