Chattanooga being a finalist for the 2021 Ironman is great news. The business gained at the local bicycle repair shops from bent rims, busted tires and warped frames should produce some great local revenue.
The local physicians should see a surge as well from the twisted ankles and busted up knees from dips, humps and pot holes on our area roads that could swallow a small child. Obviously exaggerating a little and wish harm on no one but most roads in Chattanooga are deplorable at best and appear to be getting worse.
Sadly, when our tax dollars are utilized for a road project such as the Ashland Terrace widening in 2008, we take two steps forward and tree steps back. After completion, it was probably one of the most solid roads in Chattanooga with almost zero issues. How was there no foresight for the gas line now being installed? The right lane of Ashland Terrace heading towards Hixson Pike is now one of the roughest rides in Chattanooga due to the subpar patch work. Maybe there are plans to come back and repave that section that we are not aware of but if so it will be at our expense I’m pretty sure.
Oh well, maybe if Chattanooga gets selected to host the 2021 Ironman our officials will begin to step up repairs on our local roads out of sheer embarrassment and potential liability but I can assure you I will not be holding my breath.
Chris Morgan
Chattanooga
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Chris Morgan makes a good point and had a little fun exaggerating damages from poor road conditions for the potential upcoming Ironman competition.
An area where there is zero exaggeration is that no responsible Ironman search committee could ever recommend a location like Chattanooga since the river is so polluted with toxins and bacterium the event could not take place.
Last September's Ironman swimming event had to be cancelled. A race spokesperson was quoted, "Water quality readings for E. coli have also come back at 2,416 (CFU per 100mL of water), more than 20 times higher than safe levels for swimming."
Did you catch that? Twenty times! Not elevated, not near the limit. Twenty times beyond "safe". What event organizer would ever consider this location?
The admirable athletes, local residents and also the businesses that could have made big profits on this event all have the city and WWTA to thank for this. Overflows, infiltrations, pump failures, intentionally delayed maintenance etc. are all so out of control that both the city and (soon) the WWTA are under consent decree by the federal government because they can't manage their own responsibilities. Residents of Chattanooga and Hamilton County need to hold their representatives accountable.
Chris mentions sheer embarrassment may push officials to fix roads for race preparation. Sheer embarrassment describes the city and county representatives' track record. This is not personal, it's well-documented factual experience.
Alan Hintz