Ellington

Construction on Highway 27 near the Signal Mountain Boulevard Exit is going as planned, according to Tennessee Department of Transportation communications specialist Jennifer Flynn.

“Everything’s going really well,” she said.

Traffic was rerouted Feb. 20 to the newly constructed southbound lanes from Signal Mountain Boulevard to the closed Whitehall Road slip. This traffic pattern will continue until the southbound retaining walls are complete in June.

Originally, the entire project, which stretches from Signal Mountain Boulevard to Olgiati Bridge, was scheduled to be completed in October 2014. The date was extended to Dec. 21, 2014, when it was determined additional retaining walls would be needed to secure the southbound slope. The project’s budget was also increased from $102.5 million to $104 million.

“We’ve been getting a lot of complaints about the slopes looking bare,” Flynn said of the land near the retaining walls being constructed in the area.

She said the area is still a construction site and assured that the land will have vegetation when the project is complete. A photographic illustration by Lawson Whitaker provides citizens with a visual of what the area will look like at the project’s completion, she said.

“This will look good when it all gets done,” said Flynn.

A new ramp for the Manufacturer’s Road Exit is under construction, and the current ramp will remain open until the new ramp is complete near the end of May or beginning of June, she said.