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down_home's avatar
down_home
Explorer II
Mar 06, 2019

I24/I75 Interchange in Chattanooga, Tn Construction

Since the admitting of Mexican Semis, near as I can place the time, traffic has gotten so bad that it is not uncommon to see traffic backed up to the i72 exit 5 miles or so est of Monteagle Mountain going east to past the I24/I75 interchange toI75 south to Ga and I75 north to Ooltewah Tn. More frequently the traffic back up on I24 is to the I59 Interchange both directions from I24 or from exit 161 to on though Chattanooga to the I24/I75 Interchange and beyond.
The back up going north On I75 out of Ga sometime starts opposite the south bound side Ga Welcome Center or even further and continues on into Chattanooga to the I59 Interchange.
Well it is going to get much worse. They will start this summer, but I don't know exactly when on diverting traffic onto Brinerd road which runs parallel roughly with I24 and I75 from the infamous Ridge Cut to the East Brainerd road exit on I75 north. Traffic is already horrendous on that road and on the old Hwy 41 route through East Ridge Tn.
They may divert some traffic at the foot on the west side of the Ridge Cut onto old hwy 41, East Ridge to I75 entrance on the east of Eat Ridge.
There are countless wrecks on the stretch of Interstate 24 from 161 to the I59 Interchange and on into Chattanooga involving mostly Semis, especially, at the Ga line to I59 Interchange, on the down hill section from the Tn line.
And old Hwy 41 just had a section of mountain take a big slide, so getting off at 161 and rejoining I24 east or coming from the other side, who knows how soon it will be temporarily repaired again. Of the old hwy 299 rout from 161 to rejoin at !75 south just before the Welcome Center east of I59 Interchange is not going to b much of an option for Drivers. I know several ways down I59 and at Trenton hwy 136 across Lookout Mountain and follow map trough Lafayette and join hwy 80 I think but check your maps a two lane rural hwy to Ringgold Ga and I75 entrance. Its a long logn way around. And there are other rural roads.
Coming from up North you are going to want to avoid the whole mess including Nashville so go to 75 in Michigan or 95 and come on down. You miss Indy and Louisville and Nashville that way. On I75 you only have a bit of congestion in Knoxville.
I65 in Nashville will probably be a lot rougher than normal adsorbing the extra traffic from I440 construction.
I65's new alignment misses a lot but not Nashville.I95 and to I16 or in Fla I0 or some other way. You have been this way before but you will want to avoid Chattanooga like the plague sometime this summer on. This is just my opinion as best I understand the roads in the area. Someone else may have a better idea.
  • We are at Decatur, AL, just west of Huntsville. Normal path would be 72 up to South Pittsburg, TN, then I-24 thru chatta to I-75 to Cleveland and then 74 thru Ocoee. Last 2 times we have gone, I-24 eastbound has literally been backed up from Mocassin Bend all the way to South Pittsburg.

    If we could get to Dalton Ga easily, then as you say it's easy to get from there to Cleveland. However, between Chattanooga and Atlanta all the roads go basically north/south. Really no major east/west roads between those 2 towns.

    And if we go around Chattanooga on the north side, the limiting factor is routing to one of the few bridges to cross the TN river.
  • N. Alabama is pretty vague. How easy is it for you to get over to Dalton GA? Pick up 411 up to 74 at Ocoee TN and take it all the way to 441 and up into Cherokee.
  • We are headed from north Ala to near Cherokee,NC in 10 days and I've been dreading Chattanooga for weeks. It's always a mess, especially east bound.

    We have tried a north bypass from South Pittsburg - DunlapTN - DaytonTN - ClevelandTN (our normal get off point for hiway 19/74. Good roads but additional 40 miles adds an hour.

    Have also tried a southern bypass on 136 from around Trenton GA to Lafayette, then 201 to DaltonGA, then 411 up to Cleveland TN at the McD's on 19/74. Not quite as far out of the way and only slighly less time but 136 and especially 201 barely qualify for "paved road" status.

    Are there other east/west alternatives you folks have found ??
  • Thanks for the heads-up. I will be heading down that way in a few weeks. The trip through Chattanooga has always been a mess.
  • down home wrote:
    Since the admitting of Mexican Semis, near as I can place the time, traffic has gotten so bad...


    I don't think Mexican plated trucks are causing traffic delays. If they were, literally every other truck you see would be Mexican plated, and that is just not the case. Before, the freight in those Mexican plated trucks would just have been transferred to US plated trucks. What you are experiencing is an increase in US population which has increased 30% over the past 20 years. It is reasonable, then, for traffic to increase by 30% also.
  • North bound or south bound the best way around Chatt is if heading north on I-75 get off at Dalton exit 401, rt 41 east to rt 71 north to Cleveland TN, bypass around to pick up 75 again. Same with south , get off at exit 25, rt 60. Rt 60 turns into rt 74 south of 64 so just stay on that until you hit rt 60 again, a left turn. Pick up 75 at Dalton. While it is secondary road it is good road. I pulled my 37 ft. TT on it just fine.

    If you are on 24 or 59 going around Chatt. there aren't many options.