Where Has All Our Road Money Gone? - And Response

  • Friday, January 20, 2017

I travel four roads almost daily:  Dodds Avenue, Dayton Boulevard, Third Street and Northpoint Boulevard.  Why these roads cannot be repaired I will never know.

I know, part of Northpoint is privately owned, by not the most.

Just about everywhere you go the streets are in terrible shape. We need to get this resolved. 

Joan Smith
Chattanooga 

* * *

Dear Ms. Smith, 

Many feel your same pain all over Chattanooga. 

The city of Chattanooga has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on road assessment studies which prove over and over again that conditions are indeed deplorable. Some have deteriorated so badly that the mere application of one to two inches of asphalt would do no good. In many areas road beds must be addressed before meaningful rehab would be possible.  Not much has changed on many Chattanooga roads in more than 15 years. There is no good excuse for system-wide general neglect. 

You want to know where road money went? Signature roads, boutique roads and roads at the Volkswagen plant received the attention. The downtown Walnut Street walking bridge and bike lanes have been top priorities to the movers and shakers who reside daily at City Hall. Hooray for those, but what about the rest of us who must navigate for other noble non-leisure purposes like: work, grocery shopping, and doctor visits? 

The job of a mayor and the city city council is to deal with the most pressing needs of the majority of its citizens. Road maintenance is a pressing need. However, when the majority serving on council council does not take a matter seriously, then not much happens. We in District One know our city council representative, Chip Henderson, has fought for more road repair money. Councilmen Larry Grohn and Ken Smith have tried to draw attention to roads as well, but at budget time the remaining six of nine council people prefer to play in the merry band commonly known as "The Rubber Stamp 6." 

The majority of city council members don't care enough to prioritize enough money for road repair. They prefer to give tax breaks to corporations that do not need them and focus our tax dollars on more high minded things like memorial donations to hospitals, a new recreation center in a location that already has a recreation center, expanding more free or low cost day care centers, buying housing projects and moving existing sewer lines while many existing locations don't have sewers at all. Clearly their minds move in directions that focus on some, but abandon the rest of society. 

We tire of hearing Mayor Berke proudly say that the paving budget was "doubled." It's an oft repeated feeble response to excuse what has been inadequate action. Double little and you get just a little more. Wake up and do the new math. The amount of dollars needed to fix our roads today has increased exponentially. Chronic dithering has hurt us. 

Fellow citizens, if you have a road in need--sing out now. Post your priority road. Your representatives are all up for election in March. They are prepared to listen intently and offer you their most earnest concerned voices, if only for a short while. 

Deborah Scott
Chattanooga

Opinion
Democratic View On Top State Senate Issues - March 18, 2024
  • 3/18/2024

Campbell bill seeks to save lives by studying suicide trends in Tennessee 3 p.m. Senate Regular Calendar — SB 1787 , by Sen. Heidi Campbell, would require state health officials to produce ... more

The Odor Of Mendacity - And Response (2)
  • 3/16/2024

The Fulton County judge, Scott McAfee, overseeing the Fani Willis prosecution of Donald Trump and eighteen other defendants has spoken. In response to a motion by defendants to remove Willis ... more

Capitol Report From State Rep. Greg Vital For March 15
  • 3/15/2024

General Assembly confirms new Tennessee State Supreme Justice Members of the General Assembly confirmed the appointment of Mary L. Wagner to the Tennessee Supreme Court in a joint session ... more