In preparation for this weekend’s traffic shift on the I-75/I-24 interchange project, the traffic pattern on East Brainerd Road in the vicinity of I-75 will be temporarily altered beginning on Thursday at 9 p.m. and ending by Tuesday at 6 a.m.
During this time period, all local traffic on East Brainerd Road will be shifted to the westbound lanes (toward Brainerd Road), which will be temporarily converted to two-way traffic.
Traffic traveling westbound on East Brainerd Road will only have access to I-75 North and Hickory Valley Road.
Those traveling eastbound on East Brainerd Road (toward Gunbarrel Road) will not have access from East Brainerd Road to I-75 in either direction or to Hickory Valley Road.
Traffic on Hickory Valley Road will only be allowed to turn right onto to East Brainerd Road.
Drivers who normally access I-75 from East Brainerd Road are encouraged to plan ahead during this time period and use alternate routes such as SR-153 or Shallowford Road to access I-75 or Brainerd Road to access I-24 from Spring Creek Road, Moore Road or Germantown Road.
During this weekend’s interstate traffic shift, TDOT contract crews will temporarily close the ramp from I-75 North to I-24 West within the area of the split and detour traffic to Exit 3-A East Brainerd Road.
From 9 p.m. on Friday to 6 a.m. on Monday, those traveling from I-75 North to I-24 West will be detoured to Exit 3-A East Brainerd Road, where they will be directed to re-enter the interstate via I-75 South to I-24 West. The traffic pattern at Exit 3-A will be adjusted to accommodate detoured interstate traffic and allow it to flow freely back onto the interstate.
For more on the traffic shift, please access the video link here: https://youtu.be/gaVh01wfnVQ.
C.W. Matthews Contracting Co., Inc. is the contractor for the $132.6 million I-75/I-24 interchange modification project, which is slated for completion in late summer 2021.
Project supervisor Mike Nadolski said the Matthews contracting company chose the most “aggressive” date to make the closure.
“That just means it’s the first date we have all of the elements in place to do it,” Mr. Nadolski said. “We were also very interested in getting this done before winter, because winter months can affect some of the construction elements like dirt. It’s hard to find a weekend in the winter without rain.”
TDOT Region 2 Director Joe Deering said there is no estimate for how much longer it could take commuters to get to their destination because of the lane restrictions.
“Everyone needs to be planning ahead, and expecting it to take more time to get from point A to point B,” Mr. Deering said. However, he did have some good news as well. He said, “We have a completion date of August 2021.”
Mr. Deering said C.W Matthews has a total of four weekends they are able to shut down parts of the ramp in order to complete the project. However, the company may not need to close the ramp that many times.
“We currently have plans to do this exact same closure again, and at the end of the project, the I-24 ramp will be a right-hand exit,” Mr. Nadolski said. “In order to change all of the overhead green signs and reconfigure the striping, we’re going to have to take the northwest ramp down in order to make that conversion.”
Mr. Deering said motorists indicated that they would rather see the project be completed with a few weekends of impact rather than stretching it out over three years.
“The positive behind this is you get one or two weekends, and that’s basically it for the closures,” Mr. Deering said. “There may be one or two intermediate closures along the way, but what we’ve heard from our shareholders is that they’d rather see an impact for one weekend rather than three years.”
For more information on the project or to sign up for project updates, visit the project website at https://www.tn.gov/tdot/projects/region-2/i-75-interchange-at-i-24.html.