Audio clip
Tom Dugan
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Staff Photo by John Rawlston
An Incline Railway car pulls into the St. Elmo Station on Monday morning. CARTA, the organization that operates the Incline, plans to use economic stimulus money to refurbish the Incline stations at the top and bottom of Lookout Mountain.
“We can certainly put it to good use on projects the stimulus money was intended for,” said Steve Jett, chairman of CARTA’s board of directors.
Tom Dugan, CARTA’s executive director, said Monday a breakdown of projects includes refurbishing the Incline Railway, improving a maintenance pad at the bus barn off Amnicola Highway and rehabilitating Shuttle Parks North and South.
Ron Sweeney, CARTA’s general manager, said work at the Incline Railway is almost under way.
“We’ll probably have people contracted out and working on it within the next two weeks,” he said.
There would be two phases of work at the Incline, he said. The first would be pressure washing and some painting of rails and windowsills at both the upper and lower stations. The second would be replacing some columns at the stations and doing some roofing, he said, but it would not occur until the fall.
The estimated cost of the entire project is $300,000, he said.
He estimated anywhere from half a dozen to a dozen jobs could be created by the work.
Mr. Dugan said CARTA now has more projects than money coming in, so its wish list is being whittled down. CARTA officials want as much of the money as possible directly to affect employment, he said. A large portion of the money could have been used to buy new buses, but CARTA decided to keep those types of purchases at a minimum, he said.
“I could buy a car and help a local dealer, but it’s not really creating a job,” Mr. Dugan said.
CARTA is one of the first government organizations to see money come in from the federal stimulus package. That’s because the authority receives federal money regularly and already had a pipeline set up, Mr. Dugan said.
“They just put money into existing programs,” he said.
Other city officials have said they expect federal stimulus money to start coming in within the next few weeks. Richard Beeland, spokesman for Mayor Ron Littlefield, said Monday that all departments continue to “explore” any opportunity to get stimulus money.
A meeting has been called for Friday to update the mayor on progress of finding federal stimulus money, Mr. Beeland said.
BY THE NUMBERS
* $5.6 million: Estimate for amount of Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority projects from federal stimulus plan
* $4.7 million: Guaranteed stimulus dollars coming to CARTA
* $3 million: Amount CARTA will spend within the next six months
Source: Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority
STIMULUS PROJECTS
The Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority plans on spending federal stimulus money on projects including:
* Refurbishment of the Incline Railway
* A new concrete pad in its maintenance shop off Holtzclaw Avenue
* Rehabilitating Shuttle Park North and Shuttle Park South
* Buying a backup generator for its administrative offices
* Acquiring a new bus washer
Source: Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority
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Video: Stimulus money to benefit Incline RailwayFederal stimulus money given to Tennessee will benefit many businesses across the state, including the Incline Railway in Chattanooga. Officials expect to start work on about $300,000 of upgrades and repairs at the railway within the next two weeks.
Cliff has worked for the Times Free Press for five years and covers Chattanooga city government. He previously covered Rhea County, as well as transportation and growth and development in Southeast Tennessee. A native of Maryville, Tenn., Cliff graduated in 2003 from the University of Tennessee with a bachelor’s degree in communications with an emphasis on journalism. Before coming to Chattanooga, he was a crime reporter with Hernando Today, a supplement of The Tampa (Fla.) ...
So does this money mean now there is no reason too say that a route cannot run along Ringgold Road and Dayton Blvd? There are so many people in that area who would benefit from a bus line. There once was one in these areas and other areas, but due too "budget cuts" and other excuses this was taken away from people who other wise do not have public transportation to get around. I would much rather see some funding placed into this rather than a bus washer or other needless spending. Focus on the riders, who now need and others who have had their vehicles reposed due to the economy who will also be able to utilize the services, before you worry about the incline.
Another good jobs project for Chattanooga- former home of Senator Corker. Thanks Pres Obama and others for your support on this jobs stimulus project.
In response to the comment concerning CARTA service on Ringgold Road and Dayton Blvd., it is important to keep in mind that CARTA at one time provided substantial service on both routes bus was forced to terminate service when the cities of East Ridge and Red Bank, respectively, withdrew from CARTA.
In response to EaTN What does this have to do with Corker? Did he not stay with the party line and vote against this package?
Carta is not funded by a magic money tree. Is it funded not only by its riders, it is funded by the areas it serves. When the Cities of Lookout Mtn, Signal Mtn, Red Bank, East Ridge etc decide to help fund Carta, they will have it. Unlike President Obama's budget, Carta can not just turn on the money printing machine to pay for things that some citizens think they are entitled to. Carta actually has to make ends meet with a balanced budget.
The reasoning behind the selected projects has been previously addressed.
I am a 47 year-old Chattanooga native with a Master's degree and 10 years of professional experience in my field, who has been severely impacted by the current recession. I am in TOTAL agreement with the first poster's comments regarding that stimulus money having been absolutely wasted by CARTA on the purchase of the pressure washer (and looking to waste even more on upgrades for that great money-maker, the Incline!). In a city with virtually no jobs, soaring gas prices, and people losing their cars to repossession being at an all-time high, it is time for Chattanooga's leaders to step up to the plate and start using whatever resources they have much more wisely. This means using any stimulus money to fund new bus routes to many places where they don't currently go. Yes, and that includes not only the suburbs like East Ridge and Red Bank, but a 30-mile radius of Chattanooga, folks! If Chattanooga ever hopes to be more than a "show-town" and have true economic viability, we need more than a "show-bus route." We need a true Public Transit System with 24-hour routes which offer subways/buses which extend to furthest limits of the Greater Chattanooga area - places like Dalton, Cleveland, and Dayton. Being, as I am, a Libertarian-leaning Republican, I don't support any of this big-government spending in the first place. If government would get out of the way of America's entrepreneurial spirit, we wouldn't have these problems in the first place. But as long as the U.S. is in its current Socialist mood, and Chattanooga is accepting the money, I want to see it used in a way that will actually provide relief for the folks here who are hurting. How about actually HIRING people to wash the buses instead (wow, now thats an idea!). Forget about the Incline too, and lets help the folks who are hurting out with decent public transportation, to the extent that that money allows.
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