I drive the Ridge Cut to downtown every day to go to work, and let me tell you, these potholes did not just suddenly open up this morning from the "washout" the media has been broadcasting.

The first time I hit one of them was on the way to the NCAA Division I-AA National Championship game. That was Dec. 18. They have only been progressively getting worse since.

This should have been repaired by now, but I guess it takes reports of a few nice cars having blowouts to get a truck downtown during rush hour in the rain to allow some guys to shovel gravel and tar into these holes.

I just don't understand what took so long to get their attention.

Jeff Ross
East Ridge

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I completely agree with Mr. Ross' statements regarding the horrible road conditions and pot holes located on I-24 West. This has been an ongoing problem for years. My first encounter with this now famous pothole occurred on October of 2006. I was on my way to Nashville at 6 a.m., in the pouring rain I might add, when I hit the pothole. When my front passenger tire hit the hole, it immediately ruptured my tire and destroyed the alloy rim. As I pulled over on the side of the road, I noticed the three other cars in front of me had flat tires as well from the gaping hole in the roadway.

As I sat on the side of the road awaiting the tow truck, I was praying that a semi truck coming down the ridgecut would not hit the same pot hole, lose control, and send me on my way out of this world.

I had my tire and alloy replaced at the cost of close to $700. The auto dealer also stated that the alloy was so damaged he was surprised my airbags did not deploy. So yes, TDOT should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this problem to continue to occur for almost four years without a proper fix.

Matt Bridgeman

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Add me to the long list of people who have lost a tire and alloy wheel to the canyon on the westbound side of
I-24, aka the Ridge Cut.

Changing a tire in the rain on Rossville Boulevard was not the way I wanted to spend my Friday afternoon.
TDOT you need to take better care of I-24. A good solid repair job would have been cheaper than all of the claims that will be coming your way.

Somewhere in the chain of command, someone had made the decision to just let that road deteriorate. That person needs a good chewing out.

Bill Holland
Signal Mountain

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Let me add my name to the growing list of I-24 daily travelers to work. Fortunately, I haven’t lost a tire and wheel to that crater in the road, but that sloppy, shoddy repair job this morning was beyond laughable.

Rolling through that area was like driving on an old gravel road. I’m sure by 9:30 a.m., whatever TDOT used to fill it with was gone.

The 'only' reason the potholes were half-way fixed this morning was because someone higher up on the food chain was probably one of the folks who had a tire and wheel ruined.

What is going to have to happen before we can get that section of I-24 resurfaced and repaired as well as the section closer in to town between Main St and the Olgati bridge? Yes, it was a pain in the backside while that project was going on, but at least the traffic moved and the highway in that section is now awesome to drive on.

Kathy Burke
Ringgold

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And anybody that hit that trap and didn't get a flat or ruined rim whose front end was in alignment, it isn't any more.

Why is that bad? Your alignment will now be either cambered in or out or toed in or out and your tires will wear uneven and have to be replaced earlier. But on the brighter side, the tire and alignment guys could most likely appreciate a little extra business while the economy is in a stall.

David J. Cadieux Sr.