On an international or national scale, it doesn't rank with radical terrorism, health care reform or illegal immigration, but the woeful condition of Northpoint Boulevard in recent years has likely concerned many Hixson residents more than any three other issues.
The road's condition has elicited continuous outrage - in letters to the editor and rants to the Times Free Press, among other venues - because no one seemed to be responsible.
Concerned citizens who contacted the city were told Northpoint Boulevard wasn't its responsibility - that it was a private road. Business owners, though, weren't about to take on the task by themselves.
Readers in the last six years described Northpoint as a street with "holes [becoming large enough] to swallow a small VW," "an embarrassment to businesses and the city," "a disgrace for Hixson," "bumpy, lumpy, haphazard," containing "dozens of potholes," "bumpier than the original wagon train roads," and "one of the poorest maintained streets in Hamilton County."
Mayor Andy Berke, in announcing the city would pave the road Thursday, maintained it wasn't the city's road to fix, that "the people who built this road have not kept it up." But, he said, by accepting the right-of-way for the private portion of the road (an agreement which is expected to be approved by the City Council Tuesday), the city would solve "this for Chattanoogans."
The road, a onetime cul-de-sac, now runs from Highway 153 to Hamill Road. The Highway 153-to-Hixson Pike portion, which runs behind and in front of various businesses, serves as a shortcut for drivers who do not want to endure the cloverleaf interchange at Highway 153 and Hixson Pike.
City Councilman Ken Smith, who serves the area, said he has been trying to get the road repaired since he was elected in 2013. The problem was that the private portion of the road, according to a 1988 road contribution agreement, had 12 or 13 owners. The legal legwork in starting from the original agreement took some time to resolve, officials said.
The work on the road, which is expected to take a month to complete, will cost the city between $500,000 and $600,000. However, Berke said the money for the job was held over from the city's fiscal 2017 budget.
We believe the city stepping up to take care of this seemingly unloved and unowned street - at least a portion of it - is the right thing to do. The potholes weren't going to heal themselves, the businesses weren't going to tackle the problem and the necessary repairs drivers had to make to their cars weren't going to stop. Fortunately, the city is in such financially sound shape that it could take on the project.