Surrounded by elected officials and local dignitaries, East Ridge Mayor Brent Lambert cut a ceremonial ribbon re-opening Camp Jordan Parkway that runs beside the new Bass Pro Shops, Monday morning.

“This is a very big day for our city,” Mayor Lambert said. “This marks a significant investment for East Ridge.”

Mayor Lambert said that he appreciated the partnership of Hamilton County, which chipped in a substantial portion of the $1.8 million cost of the first phase of a two-phase project to facilitate traffic flow into the new development that will become Jordan Crossing. 

Lambert said that he also appreciated the patience of East Ridge citizens who have been inconvenienced by the closing of the road that leads into Camp Jordan Park.

The 2,000 foot long road was closed in October to allow for workers with Brown Bros Inc. to begin building up the elevation of the road and widening it to four lanes.

Trip Brown, Vice-President of Brown Bros. Inc., said about 2,900 dump truck loads of dirt were brought into the site to bring up the elevation an average of seven feet. Brown said that the project _ aside from being hindered by two flooding incidents _ was fairly routine.

“The project went well, especially one that happened over the winter months,” he said. “We had some good dirt and we did a lot of the work in the bad part of the season.”

The project entailed widening the road to four lanes, which will help accommodate the anticipated traffic that will be drawn to not only Bass Pro but Jordan Crossing.

Ethan Wood, a principal with Exit 1 LLC, the entity developing Jordan Crossing, said plans are for a hotel to be built where the existing America’s Best Motel now stands, as well as a Zaxby’s. In addition, he said, there will be more restaurants in the complex that will eventually encompass between 150,000-175,000 square feet.

Wood said that this portion of the road is only the beginning of new road construction in the area. A second phase will reroute north-bound traffic at Exit 1 directly to a new intersection on Ringgold Road. This will allow cars to come directly into the shopping area, or turn east and west.

In addition, Ringgold Road will be widened from its current four lanes over Interstate 75 to six lanes.

It is unclear when the second phase of construction will begin.