Seek alternatives to road closures
I am overwhelmed with the lack of consideration for the thousands of commuters, business travelers, resulting business closures, and inconvenienced thousands with travel plans — all disrupted due to the number of road closures we have all experienced lately.
Funerals, airplanes, shuttles, reunions, appointments and work have all been missed or suffered because of the too-many-to-mention road problems in our area over the last six months.
TDOT’s only solution seems to be long, out-of-way detours that take hours to complete. Surely, we can do better.
The multimile detour around the I-24 sinkhole was a terrible decision. A 300-foot strip of black top around the problem would have kept bus lines and 18-wheelers on schedule.
I have always been led to believe that our National Guard can bridge any river or build any road in two to four hours. These guys are miracle workers just waiting to be asked.
With the economy circling the drain, I am begging TDOT to make decisions that help people. Instead of closing roads, ultimately closing businesses, disrupting lives and furthering the economic impact of our area, cut us some slack, TDOT, and look for alternatives to all these road closures.
BRUCE SMITH
Harrison
Obama lacks a backbone
With Obama’s humiliating attempt to appease Iran while they thumb their nose at us, his timid response to North Korea’s saber rattling, his refusal to protect our borders, his refusal to say that radical Islamic Muslims are dedicated to killing Americans, his lack of backbone to stand up to foreign governments that continue to put us down, and he continues to apologize to the world about our country, foreign leaders must be laughing at his weakness.
I am reminded of Teddy Roosevelt saying speak softly but carry a big stick. Obama speaks loudly and carries a small twig that he is afraid to use.
CAREY CROUCH
Dutch boy fix won’t help oil spill
Instead of pontificating and showing their ignorance, our congressmen, state governors and media personnel could serve U.S. citizens if they had not slept through high school physics classes.
If they had been awake, they easily could have calculated the water pressure one mile below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico. Consider a stack of 5,280 cubic feet (12x12x12 inches) of salt water reaching from bottom of gulf to surface. Each cubic foot of sea water weighs 64 pounds. Weight of total stack is 5,280×64 pounds or 337,920 pounds for square foot at bottom. Dividing by number of square inches in square foot, or 144, gives pressure of sea water at BP well head of 2,346.7 psi or pounds per square inch.
Comparatively, a garden hose might have water at 60 psi.
For the crude to spew from opening at that depth, its pressure must exceed 2,346.7 psi. From what has been shown on TV, pressure of exiting crude stream is considerably higher than 2,400 psi! Can’t do the Dutch boy thing and stick a finger in the hole in dyke and save the nation!
JOHN A. LYNCH JR.
Whitwell, Tenn.
Pubic art enhances city for all to enjoy
We were amazed to see a letter on this page critical of the sculptures along the Riverwalk.
If you go to the Robinson Bridge Park and walk toward the dam, you can see these 20 magnificent pieces for yourself. It’s an awesome exhibit that is only here until September.
Public Art Chattanooga, along with partners like the Lyndhurst and Benwood foundations and the Hunter Art Museum, has helped to transform our downtown and riverfront into an outdoor art museum.
From recent additions like “A Place in the Woods” at Renaissance Park to old favorites like the Great Dane at the Walnut Street Bridge, our city is graced with beautiful and thought-provoking sculptures, freely accessible to all. Like green space and music, public art makes a city both attractive to visitors and livable for residents. We hope the public art projects continue. Welcome to Chattanooga, The Sculpture City!
SHEILA ST. AUBIN
JOHN C. REIS
Story about Nails done the right way
To reporter Joan Garrett:
Your piece in Sunday’s Times Free Press of Nails’ life journey was an excellent story. It was straight-forward with just enough detail. You avoided adding criticism, blame or opinion, allowing the reader to absorb the story and sort through the uncertain future of a lost boy, a “traveling kid.”
Back in the ’70s at journalism school, we learned to write without a hint of opinion, editorial or politics creeping into the story lines. At least we tried. We were taught to relate the facts in a compelling way without favor. I believe it makes the story stand out. Your article hooked me. That’s important.
I look forward to more stories from you sans advocacy journalism. Kudos to your editors for allowing you the time to develop this important piece. (And you were front page above the fold!). You did a masterful job of doing it the right way by giving me the opportunity to draw my own conclusions and questions. Refreshing.
Thanks and well done!
DANNY BROWN
Hixson