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Staff Photo by John Rawlston Small wooden signs prohibit parking along Hixson Pike in Riverview on Tuesday. A road repaving project has some residents and businesses complaining over insufficient notice and parking problems.
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Jeff Dendy
Jeff Dendy, owner of Jeffrey’s Flowers on Hixson Pike, said he had no idea the city was about to tear up the road in front of his business until it was torn up.
“I looked out my window last Thursday and saw workers ripping up a section in front of my store,” said Mr. Dendy, whose business is at 1302 Hixson Pike. “That’s where I park. That’s where my customers park.”
About 18 months ago, city crews ripped up the roadway to put in new sewers, and two months ago, crews were back, he griped.
Eddie Tate, pavement manager for Chattanooga, said after the sewer lines were put in, there were issues with settlement of the pavement.
The project that took place two months ago was the first step in the project now being completed, he said.
“We did work to correct the settlement, and now we’re taking off the top layer and paving it back,” he said.
The city is working on two major paving projects on Hixson Pike and Central Avenue, which should be finished by the end of the week, Mr. Tate said.
Still, Mr. Dendy is not the only nearby resident and business owner angry about the paving project between Barton Avenue and Bright School. He said the lack of notification was the major problem.
“The only parking I have for my customers is outside my door,” Mr. Dendy said. “This is hurting my business. Had I known in advance, I would have been prepared.
Shelley Ellison, who lives at 1308 Hixson Pike, said she was surprised there was no advance notice of the road work.
“I understand that work has to be done. The problem for us is parking,” she said. “They put ‘no parking’ signs out, but there was no explanation what was going on or how long the project was going to take.”
Notifying residents and business owners of impending road work is a problem, Mr. Tate acknowledged.
“Traffic engineering sent out press releases to the media that notified of the work on Central Avenue and Hixson Pike,” he said.
The releases were sent to newspapers, radio and TV stations on Oct. 30, Oct. 31 and Nov. 4, he said.
“We know these are high-volume roads, and we would love to go door-to-door and tell everybody, but the city of Chattanooga has 1,200 center-line miles of roadways, and we have projects going on all over the city,” he said.
That explanation is a “dollar short and a day late,” Mr. Dendy said.
For now, notifications will continue to be made via news releases to area media, Mr. Tate said.
“We try to get the word out,” he said. “We’re not blocking roadways permanently. I wish we had an individual on all projects who had time to hang fliers and knock on doors, but we don’t.”
Feature writer Karen Nazor Hill covers fashion, design, home and gardening, pets, entertainment, human interest features and more. She also is an occasional news reporter and the Town Talk columnist. She previously worked for the Catholic newspaper Tennessee Register and was a reporter at the Chattanooga Free Press from 1985 to 1999, when the newspaper merged with the Chattanooga Times. She won a Society of Professional Journalists Golden Press third-place award in feature writing for ...
At least this part of the city will obtain asphalt as opposed to chip and seal. There seems to be a very distinct difference in where the repaving needs to be done and it has to be in accordance with where one lives in the city. Just be glad that your streets have not had “the top layer” removed in order to be chipped and sealed in the spring of 2009. According to the story, "The city is working on two major paving projects on Hixson Pike and Central Avenue, which should be finished by the end of the week, Mr. Tate said". Those of us that live on or around Grubb and Lower Mill Road in Hixson have been living with either nothing being done or having the top layer being removed so we can await a new layer of chip and seal next spring while we dodge the potholes and rough streets in our neighborhood during the worst time of the year. We just want to know when will this area in Hixson get a newly paved road with asphalt (hot mix) so it is a lot safer to travel instead of the MEGA mess we have now? Do not tell us to discuss with our city officials...we have and that is why we know the above information. You folks are very fortunate.
And where is it in the "news media" are we suppose to be looking for this information. Why not put a sign up on the street stating what is going on ??? They do it elsewhere
I like how the article says "a week" but when the radio said it was done (I thought?) on the 17th and I decided to go that way it was NOT done - I wonder if it is done tomorrow (24th?) - If I heard correctly on the 17th can I trust the radio to be right tomorrow? - I will go that way tomorrow but I will be upset if it is still torn up
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