Based upon an informal survey of old businesses and close friends in our local and surrounding neighborhoods, Chattanooga taxpayers, particularly those forced into the city via annexation, are quite upset and exhausted experiencing the pain of our City Council’s lack of adequate infrastructure asset management regarding city roads.
The budget underfunding for maintenance and rehabilitation of our city streets is a reflection of our city leaders’’ lack of concern culminating in inadequate asset management concerning the deterioration of Chattanooga city streets.
By my research we have approximately 2,300 miles of roads within the city limits. These roads have an asset value of approximately $2 billion. One only needs to drive through the city, and particularly Cassandra Smith Road in Hixson, to realize how our city leaders have through gross negligence allowed the wear and tear to continue.
It appears that bike lanes, extension of ML King Boulevard, reconstruction of Miller Park and reduced tax collection, due to the our leaderships’ love affair with tax increment financing have taken a top priority. Much of the funding for road maintenance has been allocated to other “feel good” projects while along the way totally abandoning proper taxpayer assets safeguard for our road infrastructure.
As to the horrible condition of Cassandra Smith Road, each city leader should find a copy of the plan of services presented to residents in 1972 when they were, through forced annexation, (there was a big legal battle) promised maintenance and rehabilitation of streets. Look around, dodge the hole and gulley, this has not happened.
The forward challenge for our current city leaders is to bring an immediate halt to the inadequate budgeting and intellectual dishonesty (not following through on promises made during annexation) that is driving the failure to care for the taxpayers' $2 billion road asset.
The roads we drive on are in such a deplorable condition that the residents are presented on a daily basis with an additional hidden tax – personal auto repairs. Mayor Berke and other city leaders, do you get it?
Johnny Jones
Hixson