TDOT Updates I-75/I-24 Interchange Project

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — The I-75/I-24 Split can be a nightmare for traffic, and it’s about to get a whole lot worse, before it gets better.

Construction getting underway will make our commute a whole lot easier.

At an Advisory Council on Traffic Safety meeting today, two longtime T-DOT engineers gave an update on the I-75/I-24 split work.

TDOT engineers today, presented a dozen projects coming up in the near future. The biggest, and most obvious, is the I-75/I-24 interchange.

One of the big changes coming there, is that motorists entering I-75 North from Ringgold road, won’t have to merge any more, and those going to I-24 West, won’t need to cross 4 lanes of traffic to get to the exit ramp.

“So you want to go 75 North; you come up like this, you stay in here, you stay to the right, and you go around, and you’re on 75 North,” said Robert Rodgers, Civil Engineering Manager, TDOT.

“It’ll make it a lot better for the people in East Ridge and the people leaving the welcome center it’ll make it a lot easier on them they won’t have to do that creative driving that they have to do now, to get over to 24,” said Jennifer Flynn, Spokesperson for TDOT.

So what is actually going on right now with the project?

“Right now the contractor is doing what is called the geo-technical phase of the job, and also they’re stockpiling materials to be used in the future. A lot of the big piles of dirt that you see out there, um, that’s some of the material that will be used when the project goes into heavy construction, which will be happening really soon,” said Ms. Flynn.

Another dozen upcoming projects were mentioned today. A few notable ones, widening I-75 over White Oak mountain from exit 11 to exit 20; widening I-24 from the Georgia line to US 27; and widening US 27 from I-24 to the North side of the Olgiati Bridge. All the projects mentioned total almost $900 million dollars.

Some of that work is actually going to start as soon as next weekend, at the point where I-75 South becomes I-24 West.

“It’s going to be a reduction in the ramp, it won’t be a total closure so people will just have to – it’ll be a – it’ll be weekend work so it won’t affect work week traffic,” said Flynn.

So that work will start on Friday, Nov. 8th at 9 pm, and go through Monday the 11th at 5 am. The area where I-75 South turns into I-24 West, will be down to one lane during that period.

There will be several more weekend lane reductions announced, as the work continues.