A multimillion-dollar plan is moving ahead to rework both ends of a road to where the Chattanooga Red Wolves owner has proposed East Ridge's biggest-ever commercial project, an official said.
Upwards of $5.5 million is earmarked for the road work, said Mayor Brian Williams, adding that plans call for obtaining bids on the first phase of construction.
East Ridge is to turn most of the southern end of North Mack Smith Road into a four-lane artery from Ringgold Road to the Gateway, which is Utah businessman Bob Martino's proposed mixed-use project on 110 acres at Interstates 75 and 24.
The existing paved two-lane road now stops at the Gateway site.
Also, the city plans to remake the intersection of the road's north end near Parkridge East Hospital, the mayor said in a telephone interview.
North Mack Smith already is a divided four-lane road from Spring Creek Road leading to the Gateway. But Williams said plans are to four-lane Spring Creek from the Chattanooga-East Ridge line and redo the intersection at North Mack Smith either with a traffic light or roundabout.
Martino has constructed CHI Memorial Stadium for the Red Wolves soccer team and is building the first of 144 planned townhouses on the tract. The $140 million first phase also includes commercial space, offices, apartments and condominiums, he said in a recent interview.
"There's no disputing we're doing what we said we'd do," Martino said.
Williams said the Gateway is seen as a live-work-play location and could hit $300 million in development when Martino's blueprint is fully built out.
"That is the reason" for the planned road work, he said. "The investment he's putting in and the return we'll get."
Additional annual tax revenue is estimated to be $6 million to $7 million, according to an earlier estimate.
The road funding will mostly come from a $10 million loan agreement by East Ridge that also will help finance other projects in the city such as work on Ringgold Road and the construction of an animal shelter, Williams said.
He said the city already garnered $1 million this spring from Hamilton County for the revamped entrances to the Gateway. In addition, the city and Martino received $5 million in money from the state Legislature this year for infrastructure work inside the Gateway project's footprint.
Williams said the city has started right-of-way acquisition on the south end of North Mack Smith and is working with utility companies.
He said he hoped to see groundbreaking on the south end of the road by the end of this year or early spring 2023.
The mayor said he expects work to be completed within a year on that section, which will likely narrow to three lanes near the Gateway because of a nearby retirement center and proximity to I-75. Work on the north side of North Mack Smith is then expected to start, he said.
"As soon as we get completed with the southern end, we'll immediately start on the northern," Williams said.
Martino said he's already made a lot of improvements to the parcel around CHI Memorial Stadium, where the Red Wolves opened play in 2020 as a USL League One professional team.
He said earlier that the townhomes were expected to start in the high $300,000 range. The initial 2,250-square-foot units will include three bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths, a one-car garage and room for storage, according to the developer.
The entire Gateway project is expected to have more than 500 residential units when built out, officials have said. Also included in the project is a pair of hotels, a convention center, a parking garage and walking trails.
Martino said the Gateway, too, will hold restaurants, craft breweries and other retail options.
"Residents will be able to shop, walk to dinner and enjoy a live professional soccer match, concert or other event all in their own neighborhood," he said.
In 2019, the East Ridge City Council voted for a Border Region Retail Development District state sales tax incentive for Martino's project. That allowed the city to recapture the growth in sales tax collections within the zone and then put those funds back into repaying investments in the area.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.