One year into its 18-month closure, the Walnut Street Bridge is on track to reopen in late September, officials say.
The city hosted a walking tour of Chattanooga’s iconic pedestrian bridge Thursday for local media to see the progress made since the bridge closed in March 2025 for major renovations.
A fresh coat of darker blue paint on the trusses has replaced the sun-bleached pale blue that Chattanoogans have long associated with the bridge. The new wood decking lacks the roughness of its predecessor, which at some points offered a glimpse of the Tennessee River below through the worn yellow pine.
“This project absolutely needed to be done,” project manager James Caron with Florida-based Southern Road & Bridge said during the tour. “There’s no question about it. The bridge was in rough shape. When we hand it back to you guys, it’s going to be exactly what you paid for.”
The project is over halfway complete, officials said. Crews have nearly finished repainting the bridge and have replaced about 60% of the bridge’s decking with Alaskan cedar, a hardy wood that is expected to last at least 25 years.