Leaders applaud slide response

Despite having a piece of a major roadway fall away, Signal Mountain leaders say there is a silver lining.

Town leaders lauded county and state agencies for their prompt response to the early Wednesday morning rock slide that left a portion of Signal Mountain Boulevard missing.

“You hate to see these things,” Town Manager Honna Rogers said, “but it gives you the opportunity to see how well a county and different agencies can work together.”

Members of the Town Council and the audience applauded the work of crews throughout the ordeal.

“This is one case where you guys just really jumped on the gun,” Mayor Bill Lusk said.

Tennessee Department of Transportation officials attended the meeting and proposed completely closing the road overnight to expedite repairs. Currently, traffic is reduced to one lane in the area of the slide.

“I think that’s an excellent proposal,” Mr. Lusk said.

Jeff Sikes, of Thompson Engineering, the firm overseeing the project, said crews will keep the road open throughout peak traffic times and close from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. EST to allow crews to have full access to the area.

“If we can proceed with that schedule, we can hopefully have everything opened back up Monday morning,” he said.

Mrs. Rogers said the closures would begin Wednesday or Thursday evening, depending on progress.

“We just ask for the continued patience of our citizens,” she said.

Resident Noah Long asked if any work was being done to install culverts near the road. He cited a lack of culverts as a main reason for the road failure.

“If you’re not doing that, you’re spending a lot of money and still not improving the problem,” he said. “We’re not going to get this road redone for another 15 years. The money’s just not there. We all know it.”

Mr. Sikes said crews were working to fix the immediate problem and any changes to the structure would have to be implemented through long-term planning procedures.

State Rep. Richard Floyd, R-Chattanooga, attended a portion of the meeting and spoke on the matter.

“Something happened that we feared would happen,” he said. “I’m just grateful there was no loss of life.”

Rep. Floyd, who warned Friday that the main artery to the mountain is “just a disaster waiting to happen,” said other state leaders were aware of the problem and looking for a solution.

“We’re working hard to keep it on everyone’s radar screen in Nashville,” he said.

In other business Monday, commissioners approved the purchase of a new police cruiser, appointed several people to advisory boards and approved Mrs. Rogers to sign an engineering contract for stimulus funds.

The council also approved on first reading an ordinance to grant a 10-year franchise agreement to EPB Fiber Optics after a lengthy discussion with company representatives. EPB officials suggested a different 16-year agreement, but council members noted they were waiting on a revised agreement with Comcast. The Town Council will take up the matter again at its Jan. 4 meeting.