Road to be reconfigured in two phases through the middle of May, improving safety, and adding parking.
Chattanooga, Tenn. (April 12, 2024) – The City of Chattanooga announced today plans to restripe and reconfigure Central Avenue between East 11th Street and East 23rd Street beginning Monday, April 15. The process will play out in two phases – lasting through the middle of May, weather permitting. The reconfiguration will include reducing the number of lanes from four to three (one in each direction plus a center turn lane), installing dedicated multimodal lanes with buffered zones in each direction, and creating on-street parking near Main Street to meet the demands of an ever-growing Southside.
“Well maintained, well designed roads lead to more development, increased safety, and improved quality of life,” said Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly. “My administration inherited a massive backlog of needed road repairs and improvements that were not being funded. We have reversed the trend of disrepair and made major new investments. When I took office, barely half of city roads were classified as being in good to excellent condition. Today, it’s up to nearly two-thirds. We have a lot more work to do, but we’re making meaningful progress every day.”
PHASE 1:
Beginning April 15, Central Avenue will be repaved and restriped from East 11th Street to East Main Street. Traffic will be permitted on Central Avenue while work is being done, but will be reduced to one lane in each direction.
PHASE 2:
Once work on phase one has been completed, reconfiguration will begin from East Main Street to East 23rd Street. Central Avenue will be reduced from four lanes to three lanes (one in each direction plus a center turn lane) and installing dedicated multimodal lanes. Central Avenue from Rossville Boulevard to East 23rd Street will be reconfigured to include buffered multimodal lanes, and four turn lanes. Throughout the duration of the construction, Central Avenue will be closed to southbound traffic and will be detoured to Polk Street. Northbound traffic will be reduced to one lane.
Last year, similar work was completed to reconfigure Central Avenue from East 3rd Street to East 11th Street. Central Avenue was reduced from four lanes to three (one in each direction plus a turn lane). Phase two of this project will complete the 1.12 mile reconfiguration and road improvement.
Go to cha.city/paving for planned repaving and reconfiguration projects and contact 311 to report potholes in your area.
More on The Kelly Administration’s efforts to improve road conditions in Chattanooga:
Recognizing the severe backlog of paving and road repair projects, Mayor Kelly doubled the annual paving budget from $5 million to $10 million annually. Using this investment, the Kelly Administration hired its first pothole inspector, bought an additional pothole truck, and reversed the trend of disinvestment in our city’s roads. Since then, the City of Chattanooga has paved more than 200 lane miles of roadways and repaired more than 50,000 potholes, cracks, and divots. When Mayor Kelly entered office, just more than 50% of city roads were classified as being in good to excellent condition. Today, that number is 64%.
In 2022, the City of Chattanooga announced it was awarded a $25 million federal grant from the Biden Administration’s Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program to replace the aging Wilcox Bridge. In its current state, the Wilcox Bridge can only safely support passenger vehicles, delaying and complicating first responder responses and the city’s hub of logistics and transportation industries. The upgrades will add a shared-use path to connect communities like Avondale and Glenwood more to the Tennessee River.
###