I don’t think I’ve ever publicly complained about traffic in Chattanooga, well, except for the situation in East Brainerd, which honestly I avoid at all costs specifically because of the traffic.
It’s always kind of amused me to hear people say they avoid downtown because of the parking issues. At the very worst, I’ve had to park and walk about four blocks from my destination whether it was at lunch or dinner. I’ve walked that far inside the airport parking lot alone in Atlanta and thought little of it.
Barry CourterFinding parking downtown isn’t that big a challenge. Usually.
I did raise an eyebrow recently when going to the University of Tennessee at Knoxville vs. University of Memphis baseball game at AT&T Field and I had to park a block from the Read House, about six blocks from the field. I actually thought it was a good thing, thinking to myself “Man, this game is going to be a sell-out.”
Nope, the Tennessee Aquarium, the Creative Discovery Museum and apparently every restaurant in the area were packed. Even the parking garage was full. The ballgame drew a nice crowd as well for a game in February.
So this past Saturday, I made the mistake of getting off Highway 27 on my way home from Soddy-Daisy and headed up Manufacturers Road to cut through town to home.
If I’d paid attention to my ChattanoogaNow, I would have remembered that we had a St. Chatty’s Day parade going on.
The outbound lane of Market and the eastbound lane of Frazier were blocked. Now, because of the questionable changes in traffic routing at the intersection of Frazier and Market, getting through there is tough enough on a normal day.
Throw in a pretty Saturday afternoon and a parade, and you have gridlock. All of this is offered as an explanation and an apology to the parents of small kids who might have heard me driving by. I usually keep the window up when I say those things.
* Two high school students from Chattanooga and a third from Crossville will be competing Saturday in the Tennessee Poetry Out Loud State Contest in Nashville.
Representing our area will be Margie Hussey from Baylor School, Olivia Odem from East Hamilton and Carly Selby from Cumberland County High School. Twenty-two students will be competing. The winner gets a cash prize and an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to compete in the national championship. The runner-up gets some cash and a stipend for his or her school to buy poetry books.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.