By the rockslides that have kept Highway 64 closed the last five months and the lasting effects they will have on the Copper Basin area, I feel strongly that there is an essential need for an alternate route around the Ocoee River Gorge.

Let me share some facts about why we need a better road:

- Safety: Even though improvements were made while the road was closed, there are still 39 other high hazard rock fall sites on the route. We have now had three major slides in a five-year span, and all three have come after several months of heavy rains. Only by the grace of God hasn’t anyone been killed.

The road is at the bottom of a crumbling mountain. It’s just a matter of time before the next one happens.

- Infrastructure: Since the demise of the copper mining industry, the Copper Basin has virtually become a poverty-stricken area. More than 70 percent of the Polk County workforce has to travel outside the county to find employment. Greater than 80 percent of our children in Copper Basin schools are on free or reduced lunches. We already have one of the highest tax rates in the state of Tennessee and our county is over $23 million in debt. Without infrastructure to entice new businesses and industry, our county will be totally bankrupt and at the mercy of the state within 20 years.

- County Unity: Polk County is split by the Cherokee National Forest. The Chamber of Commerce, trustee, county clerk, sheriff, etc. are forced to have to operate separate offices on the east and west sides of the county. I’ve already shared the county’s financial condition so this one should be self-explanatory.

These are the main reasons why I am so passionate about a new alternate route. I invite anyone who is opposed to the building of a new highway to come talk to the citizens, business owners, commuters, ambulance service, deputies, etc. of the Copper Basin about what we’ve had to deal with for the last five months. We have a right to speak and our opinions should be the ones that count, not someone who isn’t directly affected and has good roads running through their county. We need better and we deserve better.

Keith Dilbeck
Ducktown

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Mr Dilbeck, I am writing to ask several questions in regard to your recent editorial. You cite the Copperhill area's economic condition as a reason to build Corridor K through the Cherokee National Forest. How will the introduction of a major highway change this? Are you hoping it will bring back the copper industry (as you pointed to the end of copper mining as the cause of the economic decline)?

The projected cost (which we all know is nowhere near what the project will ultimately cost the taxpayers of Tennessee and the U.S.) is currently $2.3 billion. The population of Polk Co in 2000 was 16,050. The population of Ducktown and Copperhill combined was less than 1,000.

If the estimate of the cost is correct, that would be nearly $150,000 spent for every person in Polk County, or more to the point, $2.3 million per every person in Ducktown and Copperhill. At that cost, the taxpayers would get a better return buying every four-person family in the Copperhill area a Bell 206 helicopter 'and' cutting that family a check for $7 million. Wouldn't that solve the economic and transportation problems of the area?

It concerns me that you feel the opinions of those that you are asking to foot the bill, and who collectively own the national forest that will be permanently damaged by this project, should not count. Since you already noted that your county is running a huge budget deficit, then surely you realize that the cost of this project will not be coming from the tax revenues of Polk County. While you may feel you "deserve" Corridor K and its huge price tag, the taxpayers and those that appreciate the beauty of the Cherokee National Forest deserve a better plan.

Bryan Vance
Johnson City
bvdisc@gmail.com

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Mr. Dilbeck makes several points that he claims support his case to build a new road through the Ocoee gorge. I find his points don’t really support his conclusion and would like to offer an alternative perspective.

First, Mr. Dilbeck claims that US64 is “at the bottom of a crumbling mountain” and acknowledges that months of heavy rain caused the landslides. There have been at least 15 other major slides in our region this winter, so I don’t understand why Mr. Dilbeck thinks a new road won’t have landslides. Mr. Dilbeck has publicly asked TDOT for a list of potential slide locations on the current US64 route. But in his rabid advocacy for a new road, Mr. Dilbeck apparently hasn’t considered the massive potential for landslides on a new route. In my experience as a geologist, I would expect that significant portions of bedrock in this area will be unstable for massive highway construction, regardless of which route is chosen.

Second, Mr. Dilbeck claims that only his and local citizens’ opinions count on this matter. While I don’t disagree that Mr. Dilbeck and local citizens should have input, a new road will likely cost a hundreds of millions to a few billion of U.S. taxpayer dollars. Because Mr. Dilbeck is asking me to subsidize his mountain-living lifestyle, I do have a right to provide input.

Further, I have a right to support protection of the Cherokee National Forest (CNF), another U.S.-taxpayer owned resource, and I counter that the CNF provides Polk County its best chance at economic security (tourism). A new highway isn’t a magic bullet. Industries and businesses are closing all over the country, even those in accessible locations (such as Knox County). What makes Mr. Dilbeck think a new road will actually attract industry and business? Wouldn’t a new road through the CNF damage its tourism potential?

Fourth, Mr. Dilbeck claims that Polk County is forced to have offices in both eastern and western sides of the county. Because TDOT’s most recent plans suggest that travel times would only decrease by 2-6 minutes, I don’t understand why Mr. Dilbeck thinks duplicate offices could be eliminated. And isn’t distributed law enforcement safer than centralized?

Finally, there are a number of secondary county and forest service roads that support travel around the gorge during closures, in addition to the long “official” TDOT detour. I certainly agree that TDOT should make improvements to these roads. I don’t agree that we should provide Mr. Dilbeck a superhighway through our forest lands so he can get out of Ducktown 6 minutes faster.

Melanie Mayes, PhD