Franklin County drivers using Interstate 24 through Coffee County will face a new overnight traffic pattern beginning Monday, October 26, as crews demolish the Wattendorf Memorial Highway bridge at Exit 117.
TDOT announced Friday that the work will require closures from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. for approximately two to three weeks. One direction of interstate traffic will be affected each night, rather than both directions simultaneously.
Vehicles will leave I-24 at Exit 117, cross Wattendorf Memorial Highway and return to the interstate using the entrance ramp.
Eastbound traffic will follow that route on the nights of October 26–28. Westbound traffic will use the ramp route on the nights of October 29–30.
Wattendorf Memorial Highway will be closed to through traffic across the bridge during those periods. Drivers needing to cross will instead enter I-24 and travel to the next exit to turn around.
TDOT says additional nightly schedules will follow. The October 23 announcement does not provide a firm final date for demolition-related closures.
The work is part of a larger project to replace the existing bridge with a two-lane structure with shoulders on both sides and improve the interchange ramps.
TDOT’s project page lists construction as beginning in spring 2025, with estimated completion in spring 2027. That completion estimate is subject to change and applies to the full project, not just the upcoming demolition phase.
The replacement was initially identified through the IMPROVE Act and is funded in part through the Transportation Modernization Fund, according to TDOT’s project description.
Sources: TDOT’s October 23 closure announcement; Wattendorf Memorial Highway bridge project.
Illustration by 931Go. Symbolic roadwork graphic, not a photograph or diagram of the Exit 117 interchange.
