It’s just a preliminary engineering report, but the Hamilton County Commission agenda for Wednesday’s meeting has a potentially game changing resolution for frustrated, traffic-wracked Ooltewah residents.
The resolution would approve the local firm of Croy Engineering for design services for a preliminary engineering report on a roadway extension from the existing Hilltop Drive — which is parallel to Interstate 75 — to Volkswagen Drive.
What that would mean, if the road is ultimately completed, is that motorists on Hunter Road would not have to filter into traffic coming from Mountain View Road and Snow Hill Road to get on Interstate 75 at the Ooltewah exit. Instead, motorists from Hunter Road would follow the extended Hilltop Drive to Volkswagen Drive, where they could enter the interstate.
It has the potential to alleviate some of the daily backups that motorists, as well as Hamilton County Commissioners Steve Highlander and Jeff Eversole, have previously brought to the county’s attention. With subdivisions springing up likes weeds down Hunter, Snow Hill and Mountain View roads (which becomes Ooltewah-Georgetown Road), plus apartments slated for Hilltop Road, the problem only will get worse without another outlet.
The approval to allow an engineering study of the potential road extension is only a first step, and Ooltewah residents shouldn’t look for construction anytime soon, but it is perhaps a recognition of the importance of infrastructure in high residential growth areas.