“County work currently shows over $500,000 state-funded in DOT participation in Catoosa County and its municipalities,” Woodworth said. “This includes re-surfacing, a deceleration lane at Woodgate subdivision and State Route (SR) 2 (Battlefield Parkway) and sidewalk construction.”
Woodworth said DOT enjoys a good working relationship with local governments and road departments.
“We are not just going to plow through here,” Woodworth said. “There will be an informational hearing, the design phase, another informational hearing and much more.”
Federal aid projects
“Currently we have an estimated $25 million under construction in Catoosa County,” Woodworth said. “We will be letting to contract soon and re-surface several state routes.”
* SR 1, or US 27, from Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park to the Tennessee state line, will be re-surfaced at night. SR 151 SPUR north of Ringgold to the Tennessee state line will also be under construction soon.
* SR 2 in the Tiger Creek area should anticipate paving in about three weeks, then switching traffic to the new bridge. Completion date is Oct. 31, 2001, but DOT is not on schedule.
* SR 3, or US 41, at I-75 should anticipate pouring the deck in about three weeks, then switching traffic to the completed section toward the end of summer and begin demolition of the old bridge. This will involve work over the interstate and will require routing traffic up the ramps at night while performing demolition and again later in the fall setting the beams. Completion date for this project is 2005.
* SR 151 at I-75 should expect milling and in-lay of this intersection and additional signals at the ramps and a signal and turn lane at LaFayette Street in Ringgold. There will be a sunbelt overlay during which time DOT will close LaFayette Street starting 2006 for approximately two weeks to replace the deck overlay that is cracking. Motorists will have to use local streets to get around the repairs.
* New exit and entrance ramps are currently being constructed on SR 2, or Battlefield Parkway, at I-75 ramps. In addition, DOT will be constructing a wall at SR 146 to allow a wider section for more turning movements underneath the bridge. Completion should be May 2002.
* On the Chickamauga Bypass, DOT’s participation is limited to funding; however, DOT will work closely with the Federal Highway Administration to facilitate the construction on this project. A major traffic shift will take place in about two weeks on SR 2 at the SR 1, or US 27, intersection. Completion date is January 2009 and will be open to traffic at that time.
* Fort Oglethorpe Streetscape, which is funded with a Transportation Enhancement Act grant, will provide sidewalks and landscaping along the SR 2 corridor.
“In 1995, Mr. Hasty, a past representative of the State Transportation Board, was impressed with the phenomenal growth in Catoosa County and remarked that Catoosa needed to be given every priority, more so than many of the metro Atlanta counties,” Woodworth said. “He has certainly kept his word.”
“In the next five years, the Department will have allocated over $42 million for construction in Catoosa County,” Woodworth said. “In addition, right-of-way estimates are approximately $20 million.”
“A great deal of this money will stay in Catoosa,” he said. “Material suppliers, local contractors and businesses all benefit from the influx of the construction dollar.”
“The contractors hire employees, burn fuel, rent tools, buy hardware and don’t overlook the fact that even the contractors from Tennessee and South Georgia still eat biscuits, drink cokes and play the lottery,” he said
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