Hamilton County officials are hoping the next Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) update will ease congestion in the fast-growing East Hamilton area.
Estimates are that over the next 30 years the population of Hamilton County will grow from 330,000 to 500,000, said Kevin Tilbury, a transportation planning consultant working with the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency. Many of these newcomers are expected to settle in the East Hamilton area.
During a community meeting in September, RPA Director John Bridger said the East Hamilton area has accounted for 26 percent of all growth across the county. When combined with the Highway 58 area, it will represent over half the population growth over the next 30 years.
“So we have to plan for our transportation system; not just to serve you all into the future, but also the people who are going to come here between now and then,” Tilbury said. “That’s what [the RTP] is designed to do.”
The plan, updated and adopted every four years, anticipates how much funding the county will receive from federal, state and local sources over the next 30 years, and determines how much to spend on road maintenance, road expansion and alternative modes of transportation.