Bridge construction coming to Lake Resort Drive

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — Lake Resort Drive in Chattanooga is getting a bridge.

Work begins this week on the nearly $6 million project.

TDOT got the money through the Federal Highway Administration Emergency Relief Program.

10,000 cars travel along the road on a typical day.

It’s also an evacuation route for the Sequoya Nuclear Plant.

Justin Strickland, City of Chattanooga Transportation Services, said, “It’s a part of a critical route and we really need to maintain it the best as possible.”

The land around Lake Resort Road is prone to landslides.

“When there’s too much water, you start to see erosion take place. Well, this was happening on an accelerated level. What happened was we had many choices,” Strickland said. “Basically, we tried to fix it all the traditional ways, but unfortunately none of that really worked. So, we are actually building a bridge.”

The new bridge will be anchored in bedrock.

There is a four-phase plan to build the three-span bridge.

“We start today Monday the 15th of May. We are going down to one lane for about six weeks, and then we are going to end up reopening the road temporarily to two lane traffic, both lanes for another three to four weeks, and then it will go back to one lane for several months. And then there will be a brief time before September it will go back down to two lanes. Starting about mid-July, it will be closed… at least the single lane will be closed for the foreseeable future,” Strickland said.