Tennessee Department of Transportation changed the completion date to “late fall” on widening Dalton Pike and intersection improvements at Dalton Pike and McGrady Drive/Treasury Drive as seen on Saturday morning. The original completion date was set in June.
Banner photo, DAVID DAVIS
The original completion date was set in June. However, construction delays have been caused by significant conflicts in the contractors’ work area encountered as a result of a telecommunications company not moving its phone facilities out of the way of construction in a timely manner.
The contractor had no other areas to work in that were not in conflict with the phone company, according to a statement from TDOT Regional Community Relations Officer Jennifer Flynn.
“Currently, we are negotiating a time extension with the contractor, Highways Inc., and I would not feel comfortable in releasing an exact new completion date to the public until the change order has been fully executed,” she said.
Motorists are urged to be mindful of lane shifts between Newman Drive and Rodney Drive. The travel lanes will be reduced to two lanes and protected with barrier rails as the contractor works on cutting down the grade at the intersection of Dalton Pike and McGrady Drive/Treasury Drive.
Although the intersection remains open to some traffic, major delays are still expected due to temporary lane closures and lane shifts. Please allow plenty of travel time and exercise patience while driving in the area.
Sandra Drive will be closed to reduce the original grade to the plans grade. Trucks are still required to use the designated truck route as McGrady Drive will be closed to truck traffic. Detour signs and message boards are provided to assist motorists.
Other state routes included in part of a resurfacing (micro-surfacing) project in Bradley and Polk counties are Ladd Springs Road S.E. (SR-313) from Spring Place Road (SR-74) in Bradley County to U.S. 411 (SR-33) in Polk County; Spring Place Road (SR-74) from the Conasauga River to the ramp from SR-60; and Georgetown Road (S.R.-60) from Crown Colony Road to Hopewell/Eureka Road. The completion date of the $1.1 million project is sometime in July.
Flynn said Georgetown Road is being resurfaced even though TDOT is in the process of widening the same section. But, she said, the earliest work could begin on widening the Georgetown Road between Cleveland Middle School and Hopewell would be late 2015 or early 2016.
“That’s if everything falls in order and it’s funded,” she said.
The resurfacing contractor, Hudson Construction Co., Chattanooga, is scheduled to begin on Spring Place Road (SR-74) this week. Expect temporary lane closures to move traffic around the paving machine. Please pay close attention to the advanced flagger signs.
The resurfacing work on Spring Place Road coincides with construction of concrete box bridges over the Conasauga River Overflow and the Conasauga River.
Spring Place Road remains closed to traffic for the duration of the two bridge replacements between the Georgia and Tennessee state line. Detour signs and message boards are posted in both states to assist motorists.
Local traffic will be permitted at all times to access businesses and residential property within road closure area. The estimated completion date is October 2013.
Also in Bradley County, construction of two concrete box bridges over Greasy Creek and Branch Creek should be completed by the end of this month.
