When Volkswagen's assembly plant opens in Chattanooga in about a year, traffic near the $1 billion factory probably will be like the first day of school, a planner said.
"It will be quite congested, until people get used to the travel patterns," said Stephen Meyer, an assistant vice president for Volkert & Associates, which conducted a traffic study around the VW plant for the city.
Traffic fixes on key arteries around the plant such as Bonny Oaks Drive, Hickory Valley Road and Highway 58 should help ease congestion, according to planners.
"These improvements will handle opening day traffic," said City Traffic Engineer John Van Winkle. "That's not to say traffic will flow as freely as it does today."
VW and at least seven suppliers are slated to have operations at Enterprise South industrial park when the automaker starts making a new midsize sedan for the American market in early 2011.
The German carmaker is slated to hire more than 2,000 people alone, although they all likely won't be on board when production begins as it usually takes time for such factories to ramp up.
Still, the study proposed a variety of traffic changes over the next 25 year as production and future hiring expands.
Among changes recommended over the next year are:
* Expanding railroad bridges over Bonny Oaks and Hickory Valley. The Bonny Oaks work is already under way.
Mr. Van Winkle said plans ultimately call for widening Bonny Oaks, which is two lanes much of the way between Highway 153 to Lee Highway. But, he said, funds aren't available to do that now.
* Add turn lanes at Hickory Valley Road and Highway 58.
Mr. Meyer said helping traffic flow on Highway 58 is important because many people will enter and leave the industrial park from there.
* A roundabout at Enterprise South Boulevard and Discovery Drive. Also, there will be two more roundabouts on the new parkway under construction from the Interstate-75 interchange to the VW plant. That road is expected to be ready by mid-summer.
"Time is critical," Mr. Van Winkle said.
In addition, there are to be traffic signal retimings and minor tweaks on roadways in the area, he said.
The city and Hamilton County are expected to pick up the first-year road work costs, though the study didn't fix dollar estimates, the traffic engineer said.
"It's all subject to funding," he said, adding there's "a commitment to make sure we get the road improvements we need. We can't afford not to."
VW TRAFFICVolkswagen's new auto plant is expected to hold 2,300 parking spaces, according to traffic planners.
In the outer years, planners foresee a variety of other improvements, including widening Highway 58 and Bonny Oaks, and work on Jersey Pike.
Mr. Meyer said one issue planners encountered was that all the new American auto plants are built in rural environments and not in cities, such as the VW factory.
In addition, the VW plant and supplier factories are expected to produce more residential and commercial development around Enterprise South, he said.
"More people will be moving into the area," Mr. Meyer said.