Cleveland: Spring Place Road closing for new bridges

photo Jennifer Flynn, TDOT spokeswoman
Arkansas-Ole Miss Live Blog

CLEVELAND, Tenn. - A section of Spring Place Road near the Georgia line will be closed beginning Tuesday for bridge replacements over the Conasauga River.

The highway, also known as state Route 74, is a major route between Chatsworth, Ga., and Cleveland.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation has posted a detour around the $3 million project, scheduled for completion around Oct. 31, 2013.

"We will do all we can to help people," TDOT spokeswoman Jennifer Flynn said Tuesday. "We know people in Georgia and Tennessee will be involved, and so we want to get the word out on both sides of the state line."

Northbound traffic on Georgia Highway 225 will be detoured east onto Georgia Highway 2, about two miles from the bridges, then north on Georgia 61/Tennessee 33 and northwest on Tennessee 313 until the intersection with Tennessee 74 just south of Cleveland and about nine miles from the bridges.

Southbound motorists headed from the Cleveland area will be detoured southeast onto Tennessee 313, then south on Tennessee 33 and west on Georgia 2 until intersecting with Tennessee 74/Georgia 225 about two miles south of the bridges.

It is a roundabout detour, agreed Greg Taylor of TDOT's design office, "but the alternative would add 27 miles to the trip."

Local traffic still will have access to businesses and residential property, Flynn said. But traffic will not be allowed to enter the work area next to the bridges, which span the Conasauga River and an overflow route.

Meanwhile, beginning today, major reconstruction will begin on another busy Cleveland intersection -- Dalton Pike at McGrady Drive/Treasury Drive.

The intersection work is related to the widening of Dalton Pike, which has been under way for months.

The intersection links to fast-food restaurants, drugstores, a Bi-Lo grocery store and the entrance to Walmart.

Although the intersection will remain open, motorists can expect delays with some temporary lane shifts and closings, Flynn said.

McGrady Drive will be closed to trucks. Detour signs and message boards are in place.

The estimated completion date for that work is June, according to the transportation department.

Upcoming Events