Paul Lovingood uses a trackhoe to move debris on the hill below the CityGreen apartment complex on May 1. Greg and Paul Lovingood, with West Contracting Inc., are clearing the hillsides along U.S. Highway 27 for a massive expansion of the highway that will include 31 retaining walls between Signal Mountain Road and the Olgiati Bridge.
questions about the project
Q: Are they going to build the road way up there?A: No, but it does now look that way as roadbuilders cut dirt access roads at the tops of the slopes for the highest terraces of retaining walls.Q: If there’s a big rainstorm, is all that dirt going to end up on U.S. 27?A: Roadbuilders certainly hope not. They have erosion control barriers up, but if Mother Nature brings them a 3-inch rain, things might get muddy.Q: How many trees have been removed?A: An estimated 500 “mature” trees already are gone.Q: How many more trees will be removed?A: An estimated 775 still will fall. In all, about 51 acres of trees will be removed.Q: What will happen to the felled trees?A: They are sent to sawmills, pulp mills or mulch grinders.Q: What will this look like when it’s done?A: Terraces of cut rock walls with grass or vetch sown between them for cover.Q: Could TDOT contract or partner with wildflower growers, or plant wildflower seed?A: No. Wildflower meadows take too long to become established, leaving the slopes exposed to erosion.
TreesThe once tree-lined drive along Stringer’s Ridge on U.S. Highway 27 between Red Bank and Chattanooga is becoming treeless.
Hundreds of mature trees have come down in the past two months, and still more will fall as hillside after hillside is scoured in preparation for road widening and 31 massive concrete retaining walls.
The walls — with a cut-stone face and terracing up the sides of Stringer’s steep slopes — will become the new edging of progress.
The 1.6-mile stretch of road will be widened from four lanes to six and occasionally eight as side-saddle ramp lanes come and go.