The interchanges, which are three separate projects, run along Interstate 75 and Exit 20 and APD 40 and U.S. Highway 11 (Lee Highway).
“The new interchanges are something the city and county have been working with the state on for many years now,” said Bradley County Mayor D. Gary Davis.
“The northeast and southeast quadrants at Exit 20 have been underdeveloped because they’re nearly impossible to get to. Now with these interchanges Exit 20 will become more accessible for development and they can grow like Exits 25, 27 and soon 33,” said Davis.
The project approved recently for Bradley County is for construction of a Local Interchange Connector (LIC) road which will eventually connect to the APD 40 interchange. The LIC is currently in development by TDOT. According to TDOT community relations officer Jennifer Flynn, the LIC project is a Cleveland project and the only involvement TDOT contributes is funding. According to Davis, the city and county have agreed to contribute matching funds, $1 million each, for the LIC project.
According to Flynn, the remaining two interchange projects are a modification to an existing interchange at Exit 20 and building an interchange at APD 40.
Flynn said the APD 40 interchange construction project is fully funded.
“TDOT may start accepting bids as early as the first quarter of 2013 for this project,” she said.
Flynn said the modification to the Exit 20 interchange project is not a fully funded project at this point.
“The project is not funded for right-of-way acquisition or construction, and to keep the 2012 schedule the project must receive funding in the next legislative session,” she said.
“But if all goes well we could start bidding that out by the fourth quarter of 2012,” said Flynn.
TDOT is also working with Cleveland and Bradley County for State Industrial Access (SIA) roads for both Wacker Chemical and Amazon.com.
