I75 interchange to I24...What were they thinking? (Chattanooga, Cleveland: construction, designs)

[GreggT]

I75 South goes down to ONE lane going into I24, no matter what time of day traffic is lined up at a crawl for miles merging from three lanes to one. There is plenty of room to add a lane or two, anyone know what is going on?
We tend to try to avoid Chattanooga for that very reason.

[y8tiger]

Originally Posted by GreggT

I75 South goes down to ONE lane going into I24, no matter what time of day traffic is lined up at a crawl for miles merging from three lanes to one. There is plenty of room to add a lane or two, anyone know what is going on?
We tend to try to avoid Chattanooga for that very reason.

I will take the Scottsboro - Mentone - Adairsville Route every time to avoid that nightmare.

[shinestx]

Originally Posted by GreggT

I75 South goes down to ONE lane going into I24, no matter what time of day traffic is lined up at a crawl for miles merging from three lanes to one. There is plenty of room to add a lane or two, anyone know what is going on?
We tend to try to avoid Chattanooga for that very reason.

I'm no defender of awful TDOT planning, delays and designs of atrocious interchanges, but I will point out that this intersection, as you've said from I-75 traveling southward to I-24 west, is currently in the midst of a massive reconstruction that has kept two lanes open for most of the construction period. There will ultimately be three lanes going to I-24, but that segment of I-24 to downtown will need to be widened to 4 lanes plus an exit lane for the three exits along the north side of the highway. That will be Phase 2. I believe there are two more years left on the construction timeline. Next up, TDOT will need to widen I-75 to four lanes to Exit 11 and the rise of White Oak Mountain, where it will go to three lanes (currently there are three lanes with a ridiculous 1-mile stretch of 2-lanes from Exit 11. Then from White Oak all the way to Cleveland Exit 27, there will be 3 lanes in both directions. This is long overdure, and frankly I-75 should have a minimum of 3 lanes in each direction all the way to the i-40 junction in Loudon County.

[An Einnseanair]

Originally Posted by GreggT

I75 South goes down to ONE lane going into I24, no matter what time of day traffic is lined up at a crawl for miles merging from three lanes to one. There is plenty of room to add a lane or two, anyone know what is going on?
We tend to try to avoid Chattanooga for that very reason.

It's three lanes after the Hwy 153 exit, then the E. Brainerd Rd. ramp adds a 4th lane. That 4th lane splits a half mile or so later for a total of five. Then two of these lanes ramp off to I-24 West.

But in reality, when traffic is high, everyone tries to bunch into that single added lane at E. Brainerd, so it's as if there is only one exit lane.

Tip: Don't get into that single lane. Wait the half mile and merge at the point where that single lane splits into two. There is almost always room, as most of the people already in the lane shift over to the new lane.

And as mentioned earlier, what we have now is the half-measure left after phase 1 of a major re-design. Phase 2 is supposed to start construction next year. It will add a new lane from E. Brainerd Rd. to where the existing lane splits now, for a total of 5 continuous lanes from East Brainerd Rd. to the I-24 ramp.

These 5 lanes will then split with 3 continuing on I-75 south and 3 going I-24 west. The middle lane will allow either choice. This added lane west will require rebuilding the Moore and McBrien Road bridges.