As we near the election in March, now would be a good time for our city officials who are up for re-election to spend a little time exploring their realm.
I would invite them to take a scenic tour starting at Lake Resort Drive paying attention to the portion of the road which was recently repaired which now appears to be sliding back towards the lake again. Follow Lake Resort Drive up to the four way stop at Hamill Road and turn right. Pass the pothole at Gann Store which put a quarter sized hole in my new tire Saturday (costing me $200, but I digress). Continue to the left where Big Ridge Road begins. Drive on Big Ridge Road past Colonial Shores and hang on. Continue down Big Ridge Road to where the road once again bears to the left and continue up to the four way stop. You may then turn left and return on Fairview Road back to Lake Resort.
Drive the speed limit at all times, and wear a helmet. The people who drive this road daily wonder how much worse the city is going to let this get. We also vote.
Enjoy your tour,
Alan Janney
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In parts of Chattanooga the city officials, while touring the roads, should be ensconced inside a tank, wearing helmets, flak jackets, and gas masks, with helicopter gun ships to provide air cover. Also, make sure it's done during daylight hours with police and National Guard troops to avoid any incidents that would add to the ever increasing violent criminal assaults on the daily news.
It might help though if the mayor, while inside the tank, could announce through the external loudspeaker another economic development project and toss money out the hatch as the price of guns, ammo, and gasoline is rising.
Stephen Greenfield
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We also invite them to tour our roads in Lookout Valley. Please start with exiting I-24 and turning right on Brown's Ferry Road. Take the first right, which is Patten Chapel Road, right next to the Circle K. Follow the whole road until it meets Brown's Ferry Road again, but be prepared to put new shocks and tires on your car. Then, meander on down and visit Judy's Lane, where the middle of the road is caving in. Tour O'Grady Drive and Oak Burr Drive, and the lower end of Brown's Ferry. Then make sure and hit all of Isbill Road and Kelly's Ferry Road just to name a few.
Any side road that isn't Cummings Highway or roads in Black Creek will do as well. It's a terrible disgrace since Lookout Valley is the first impression of our fair city from the south and west from I-59 and I-24. Never mind that it's the main entrance-way to Lookout Mountain. It's dangerous and damaging to our and our visitors' vehicles.
Richard and Thomas Hendricks-Smith
Lookout Valley
Chattanooga City District 1
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I would like to add the pathetic patch job on Lupton Drive and the absurdity that is Martin Luther King Boulevard. The manholes near MLK and Chestnut Street will rattle your teeth.
Additionally, I will say that we need to hold developers responsible for the traffic and parking concerns they create.
Lastly, I must say bicycle lanes have made commuting into downtown a major headache, and combining them with on-street parking on North Market Street has made driving in that area absolutely untenable. To the merchants there, now you know why some of your customers are staying away.
I, too, will be voting for change.
Darlene Kilgore
Chattanooga
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I would invite you to take a trip on the mine field from Igou Gap to Franks Road and from Concord to the I-75 ramp at the mall. This stretch of road has been neglected for years.
Mickey Spence
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How about Mountain Creek Road? The potholes and sinking ridges along the road (that is barely two lanes wide at its widest point) pale in comparison to the section of road that has completely caved into the ditch. Our city "traffic department" has done us a great favor by surrounding the gaping hole with large orange barrels and has recently even gone so far as to mark that area with temporary signs that say "one lane road".
Temporary signs. The caved-in section of road has been that way for over 18 months. With all of the tax dollars sent to the city from this side of town, we get two metal signs propped up on wooden tripods and a stack of orange cones. Now that's real value, folks. The lawsuit that will follow the inevitable car into the gaping hole will most certainly cost the city much more than the timely repair of the road would have.
What I am most frustrated with are the millions and millions of dollars of city expenditures that keep going "downtown", while the rest of the city continues to suffer with these deplorable road conditions. City Council, Chattanooga is more than downtown. The majority of taxpayers in this city do not live downtown. In fact, you have made downtown so inaccessible with parking fees, bike lanes, and traffic snarling construction, most of the rest of the city doesn't even go downtown anymore. Yet, our city leaders continue to pour vast amounts of money into needless downtown projects instead of taking care of business in other areas.
Perfect case in point: Miller Park. Do we really need to spend any money "re-vamping" a downtown park that has absolutely nothing wrong with it? This is only the tip of the iceberg in wasteful spending on downtown projects. We don't have enough room here. And, don't even get me started on all of the tax money that has been forfeited to fat-cat developers downtown, leaving the rest of us who don't live downtown to supplement their city services.
And, million dollar donations to Children's Hospital? The cars and ambulances taking the children there need to be able to actually make it over the roads to the hospital first.
More police, cameras, and violence reduction expenditures to protect a small area of downtown whose residents don't want surveillance, won't cooperate with the police, and who a very small number of people are profiting from despite dismal results. C'mon, folks...This isn't rocket science.
I distinctly remember that during the last election, almost every candidate running for City Council had a high priority placed on road repair and maintenance. I remember this well because, as a voter, I ranked it as my highest priority as I had watched our city streets suffer for years. Apparently, it was all typical feel-good political rhetoric. Instead, we got a dias of members who decided that the dance with the mayor and Kim White was much more glamorous than potholes. Here's hoping this election will be different. I doubt it but, a girl's got to dream.
Lynn Ashton
Chattanooga