Staff photo by Doug StricklandA worker pulls a curtain across the northern entrance of the Wilcox Tunnel on Jan. 29 in preparation for maintenance work to the tunnel, the condition of which has been a complaint of surrounding residents for years. That work, which was planned to be finished by the end of February, will now see a tentative completion date of April 11.More Info
For information on the grant, contact James McKissic 423-6701 or jmckissic@chattanooga.gov. The city’s project liaison for the Wilcox Tunnel improvement project is Blythe Bailey. Contact him at 643-5950 or bbailey@chattanooga.gov.
The Wilcox Tunnel will not be complete this month as initially scheduled, but the city will offer financial support and resources to businesses struggling because the tunnel is closed.
“We had some trouble in getting from our electrical contractors to our liner contractors,” said Blythe Bailey, the city’s transportation administrator. “That struggle has ate up our extra time, but we’ve got that liner contractor on board now.”
The new tunnel completion date is April 11.
Bailey addressed a crowd of nearly 100 people at Eastdale Youth and Family Development Center last Monday. The audience included Councilmen Larry Grohn, Moses Freeman and Yusuf Hakeem. Maura Sullivan, the city’s chief operating officer, also attended.