Tennessee Department of Transportation HELP truck supervisor Bill Vincent, left, and driver Brian Moore carrie debris back to their trucks on Interstate 24.
Staff File PhotoNASHVILLE – With the help of a federal grant, the Tennessee Department of Transportation has expanded its popular HELP program in Chattanooga and plans similar actions across the state where the lime-green trucks patrol heavily traveled freeways.
TDOT was recently awarded a nearly $5.3 million federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality grant.
That, along with $1.32 million in state matching funds, is letting the department add more HELP operators and trucks and add a new route in Chattanooga and other urban areas in East, Middle and West Tennessee.
The phased-in expansion began in Chattanooga on June 1 with three additional operators and trucks, bringing the total number in the Chattanooga area to 17.
The local expansion provides an additional route on Interstate 24 west of the city to the Tennessee/Georgia line at Exit 169 in Georgia. Some 70,000 vehicles travel the nine-mile stretch of freeway daily.