The City of Chattanooga announced plans to restripe and reconfigure Central Avenue between East 11th Street and East 23rd Street beginning Monday.
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 Monday, 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.