Costs are increasing by nearly $1 million for the city of East Ridge's road widening project on North Mack Smith Road from Ringgold Road to the southern access point to the CHI Memorial Stadium and Gateway development.
Plans for the project now call for four lanes heading northbound from Ringgold Road to the curve near the Budgetel and East Ridge Residence senior living community, where it will narrow to three lanes and then transition to two lanes as it gets closer to the Gateway project, interim City Manager Scott Miller said.
Eight parcels of property adjacent to North Mack Smith Road totaling about 32,000 square feet, or a little more than half an acre, need to be acquired by the city for the work to begin, Miller said.
According to local commercial real estate appraiser High Rock Valuation, the appraised value of the property is around $750,000, Miller said.
The cost to the city would include a 10% contingency fee, for a total of $876,829.
Jacky Cagle was the only council member who voted no on the resolution authorizing negotiations to purchase the property, noting the council's previous votes to approve the project were on the condition no additional right of way purchases would be required.
"We all agreed to stop this thing down there in front of the Budgetel and the senior citizens residence," Cagle said at the council's Jan. 12 meeting, referring to a resolution the council passed unanimously in June that would have widened North Mack Smith Road to four lanes up to the Budgetel and then transitioned to two lanes.
The project came before the council again Aug. 11, after officials discovered the city owned a 50-foot right of way adjacent to North Mack Smith Road that would allow the city to continue the widening project up closer to the Gateway project without purchasing any land. Council members voted unanimously to move forward with the project on the condition no additional rights of way would need to be purchased.
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When the project came before the council again Aug. 25, council members voted 3-2 to pass a resolution authorizing the purchase of an additional right of way at 1403 Mack Smith Road for the project.
The additional right of way was necessary based on a traffic study that concluded four lanes would be necessary for the Chattanooga Red Wolves FC stadium development's final buildout, Miller said.
"If we had to widen it later, it's going to cost more than the potential purchase price, or negotiated price, on that property would be," Mayor Brian Williams said at the Aug. 25 meeting. "I'm optimistic that we can work with the property owner and get some type of deal with that property."
According to the Hamilton County property assessor's website, property at 1403 Mack Smith Road is owned by LH Mack Smith Road LLC, which has a Park City, Utah, address listed online as the Martino Foundation.
The developer of the stadium project is Utah businessman Bob Martino.
LH Mack Smith Road LLC in May 2021 purchased the property from 1818Nooga Sl Investors LLC, which received a Paycheck Protection Program loan in January 2021 to operate the senior living facility at 1417 Mack Smith Road.
The Aug. 25 resolution did not include a price for the property, which has an assessed value of nearly $2 million, according to the property assessor's website.
Miller said according to Jeff Sykes of ASA Engineering, the extra right of way was necessary to widen the lanes, especially where the road transitions from three to two lanes, to facilitate the movement of traffic leaving events at the Red Wolves stadium.
Land acquisition firm ORC will handle the negotiations authorized by the council Jan. 12 for the purchase of the eight parcels of additional right of way, for which the addresses were not provided.
Contact Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6508.