Robert Padgett owns Mr. Grinch Tattoo at the corner of Prosperity Lane and East Brainerd Road. He told NewsChannel 9 that the construction had at times kept his shop closed. "We personally pulled up in our parking lot and numerous work trucks would be here where we couldn't even open for business," he said.
His comments came days before a full weekend closure TDOT scheduled for October 24 through 26. The closure had nothing to do with the repaving that has kept lane shifts on East Brainerd Road since early September. It belonged to the other project on this road, the replacement of the bridge over the CSX railroad, and that project has a finish date of June 30, 2028.
So the paving wrapping up this week doesn't end the construction on East Brainerd Road. It ends the short project, and the long one is just getting going.
Two contracts, one strip of road
East Brainerd Road is state route SR 320, and TDOT is running two separate contracts on it with two different contractors. The Chattanooga Times Free Press laid out both on October 23, and TDOT's own reports fill in the mileposts.
| Resurfacing | CSX bridge replacement | |
|---|---|---|
| Contractor | Wright Brothers Construction Co., Charleston, Tenn. | Dement Construction, Jackson, Tenn. |
| Cost | Almost $3.2 million | $10.2 million |
| Length on SR 320 | Milepost 0 to 3.87, Brainerd Road to Graysville Road | Milepost 0.86 to 1.11 |
| Construction start | Tuesday, September 8, 2026 | Contract let October 3, 2025 |
| Expected finish | Halloween 2026 | June 30, 2028 |
The two projects differ in scale. Paving covers nearly four miles and should take about eight weeks. The bridge work covers about a quarter mile and costs more than three times as much. TDOT's contract award puts the Dement bid at $10,219,955.95.
Where the work sits on your drive
Both projects are on the western end of East Brainerd Road. SR 320's mileposts start at Brainerd Road, which TDOT lists as SR-2, and count eastward. TDOT's September roadway activity report lists the resurfacing from Brainerd Road to Graysville Road. Some news coverage describes the limits differently, but TDOT's listing is the one tied to the contract.
The bridge sits inside that stretch, a little less than a mile from Brainerd Road. The Times Free Press places it in the middle of the Vance Road to Prosperity Lane segment, where East Brainerd Road crosses the CSX tracks. If you use this end of the road to get to Brainerd Road or Lee Highway, you've probably already driven through both work zones.
What the paving leaves behind
The resurfacing does more than lay new asphalt. TDOT spokesperson Gracie Shamblin told the Times Free Press that the project is part of the agency's three-year resurfacing plan and was designed around Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.
"When completed, the project will provide updated ADA curb ramps throughout the corridor, a smoother driving surface and improved pavement markings," Shamblin said in the Times Free Press report. "Utility owners will adjust manhole covers within the project limits to help preserve the improved roadway conditions."
Once the manhole adjustments and markings are finished, the paving contract's work on those 3.87 miles is done. The exception is the quarter mile around the railroad crossing, where the bigger project starts.
Why the bridge takes until mid-2028
The new bridge won't go where the old one stands. According to the Times Free Press, TDOT plans to build it next to the existing bridge, shift the road's alignment, and build new approaches in both directions. That means more than a new deck over the tracks. The road itself will move, and both ends of the crossing get rebuilt to meet it.
That kind of work needs a lot of preparation before a bridge goes up. In September, TDOT reported that Dement crews were moving utility poles and overhead lines between mileposts 0.86 and 1.11, with daily flagging from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The October weekend closure was the next step. TDOT's closure notice says crews would install storm drainage and clear trees "associated with the ongoing construction project." The Times Free Press tied that work directly to the CSX bridge. Drainage and tree clearing are early-stage tasks. They prepare ground that the new alignment will cross, which fits a project with most of its work still ahead.
The paving crews started on September 8 and aimed to finish by Halloween. The bridge contract was let in October 2025 and runs to the end of June 2028, about two years and eight months from award to completion. The paving is close to done, but the bridge has many seasons of work left.
What one closed weekend looks like
The October closure gives an early look at bridge-related disruption for local drivers. TDOT scheduled East Brainerd Road to close from Vance Road to Prosperity Lane from 5 a.m. Saturday, October 24, to 5 a.m. Monday, October 26, and posted these detours:
- Westbound: I-75 North to SR 153 North, then Lee Highway South back to East Brainerd Road.
- Eastbound: Lee Highway North to SR 153 South, then I-75 South to Exit 4 to reach East Brainerd Road.
On a map, that's a long loop around a short closure. A nearby resident interviewed by NewsChannel 9 expected little impact, saying a back route adds about five minutes.
Businesses inside the closure have more at stake. Padgett said the weekend falls during his busiest stretch of the week, and that the shop was "desperately trying to get out to all of our customers all through our social media alternate routes." He also said business owners hadn't always been told about construction ahead of time.
The shops on the Vance to Prosperity stretch sit beside a bridge project scheduled to run until mid-2028, so their own posts about routes and hours are worth following.
TDOT called the closure weather-dependent and said it would be rescheduled if rain or other problems got in the way, so check whether any of the work was moved to a later weekend.
Keeping up with a project that outlasts this season
The bridge job will run through at least two more holiday seasons, so the useful habit is checking the official source rather than relying on news coverage. TDOT points drivers to its SmartWay map for current construction and traffic conditions, and to 511 for statewide travel information. The Times Free Press gave the same advice when it covered the paving finish.
TDOT also publishes weekly roadway activity reports for the region. Under the "Hamilton County SR-320" heading, the Dement contract appears as the bridge replacement over the CSX railroad, with its current activity and flagging hours. This fall's full closure was announced in a separate TDOT news release three days ahead.
Here's where things stand for the rest of 2026. The repaving that TDOT expected to finish around Halloween should leave a smoother East Brainerd Road with new curb ramps and fresh markings from Brainerd Road to Graysville Road. The quarter mile at the CSX tracks, between Vance Road and Prosperity Lane, belongs to a bridge contract with a scheduled finish of June 30, 2028, when the new bridge and its realigned approaches are due to be complete.
If you own property along the East Brainerd Road corridor and want to know how the 2028 bridge timeline fits with your own plans, Grace Frank Group follows projects like this one block by block. We're glad to walk through what the construction schedule means for your street. Request a Home Valuation, and we'll include what we're tracking on this stretch of SR 320.
