Georgia motorists on Interstate 75 North, headed onto Interstate 24 through the infamous “Split,” will have to make a lane choice a quarter mile sooner, with a new traffic pattern going into place this week as the $132.6 million interchange modification project keeps rolling.
While the new pattern is a surprise for drivers on I-75, people stopping off at the state Welcome Center just inside the Tennessee state line will find their path to I-24 completely cut off. That’s because the Split’s old I-75 North lanes are history and the I-75 to I-24 West dividing point temporarily is several hundred yards closer to exit 1.
Now, Welcome Center drivers heading for I-24 will have to take a new I-75 North all the way to the East Brainerd West exit to reverse course back to the Split and I-24 West, according to Tennessee Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jennifer Flynn. Detour instructions are posted at the Welcome Center, she said.
The traffic pattern change could even affect drivers in East Ridge heading for I-24 from I-75’s exit 1, who could find themselves on the same detour, especially when traffic is heavy at the ramp from westbound Ringgold Road onto I-75 North in front of Bass Pro Shops and traffic backs up from the I-75-to-I-24 West bottleneck.
The detour to East Brainerd Road and back to the Split is about six miles.