Hamilton County officials Wednesday approved the first step to extending Hilltop Drive to Volkswagen Drive, parallel to Interstate 75.
The extension is projected to cost between $22 million and $25 million, county Development Director Nathan Janeway told commissioners.
Commissioners on Wednesday approved a $1.5 million contact with Croy Engineering for design services. That money will come from the county’s roads improvement fund.
“Building roads is expensive,” Commissioner David Sharpe, D-Red Bank, said. “It’s a critical part of our job, to ensure people can move freely throughout our community, emergency services can be provided, all the stuff is really important. That’s a big price tag.”
The project would extend Hilltop Drive from where it now terminates near Miller Industries and Hunter Road to the intersection of Volkswagen and Ferdinand Piech Way, county plans show.
It’s meant to alleviate some traffic at Exit 11 and Ooltewah-Georgetown Road, where officials and residents say congestion is getting worse thanks to increasing development.
“This looks like a great project,” Sharpe said. “I know a lot of folks saying it’s something we should have done a long time ago, and I’m glad to see it’s moving forward.”
Sharpe asked how the rest of the project will be paid for.
“We believe, because of the proximity to Enterprise South Industrial Park, that there’s a couple of state grants that we would be eligible for in the future,” Janeway said. “Part of the initiative is to get the engineering done on the front end so that it’s shovel-ready as soon as we identify funds.”
The project is one of several identified for the county’s roads improvement fund, along with work planned on East Brainerd Road, Thrasher Pike and others.
Contact growth reporter Ellen Gerst at egerst@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6319.
