City

Breaking down the “Under the Hood” City infrastructure presentation

July 15, 2021 • 
Brianna Williams
An aerial view image at night of two different street intersections

Photo by Kelly Lacy via Pexels

Table of Contents
🛣️ Roads
🚦Traffic Signals
🌉Bridges
🏘️ Sidewalks
🌳 Greenways
💡 Possible solutions for the future
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Today, we’re getting under the hood of Chattanooga’s infrastructure problems + possible solutions that were recently outlined in Chief of Staff Brent Goldberg’s presentation to City Council.

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Graph showing the comparison in local road conditions from 2010 to 2020 based on PCI | Screenshot from “Under the Hood” presentation

🛣️ Roads

  • Chattanooga’s current average road condition — measured in PCI, or Pavement Condition Index, on a scale from 0 to 100 — is 62 PCI across 2,352 miles of local roadway
  • A PCI of 40 or below is defined as “poor”
  • Locally, many of the roads with the lowest rating are in the most vulnerable communities + neighborhoods
  • According to the presentation, the City budgeted $6.3 million for road paving this year, but Chattanooga needs to spend $9.22 million per year to maintain our current PCI

🚦Traffic Signals

  • The presentation identified 17 local intersections that currently warrant traffic signals
  • Current funding levels allow for building 1 new traffic signal per year, or the repair of 1-3 existing signal intersections per year

🌉Bridges

  • The City manages 86 structures crossing rivers, creeks, roads, and railroad tracks
  • The City budgeted $400,000 in FY21 for bridge repair
  • According to the presentation, over the next 5 to 10 years Chattanooga needs ~$120 million to repair our most critical bridges
  • The Wilder, Wilcox, and Walnut Street bridges all have funding plans in place
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Graph providing a summary of Chattanooga’s bridge conditions | Screenshot from “Under the Hood” presentation

🏘️ Sidewalks

  • Citywide, there are currently 490 miles of sidewalk (not including sidewalks on most local neighborhood streets)
  • Using current contract costs for sidewalk construction ($440 per linear foot), new sidewalks would cost ~$1.5 billion

🌳 Greenways

  • Residents have requested additional greenway construction in the following areas: East Line, North Chick, Northshore, Alton Park Connector, and the University Greenway
  • The presentation estimated that construction of new greenways would cost roughly $3 million-$6 million per mile

💡 Possible solutions for the future

  • Seeking community input to determine where the City’s money can best be spent on infrastructure
  • Seeking outside sources of funding
  • Ensuring that infrastructure is examined through an equity lens so as to not leave behind vulnerable communities
  • Revising the City’s budget to reverse infrastructure decline

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