Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / Then-District 26 Republican candidate Robin Smith speaks during a meet and greet hosted by the League of Women Voters in the Chattanooga Rooms at the University Center on the campus of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on Sept. 24, 2018, in Chattanooga.Unhappy about getting stuck in traffic recently because a train has stopped on a Hixson railroad crossing or elsewhere?
Tennessee state Rep. Robin Smith, R-Hixson, says you might consider coming to a public meeting she’s hosting Tuesday with local and state officials, including Tennessee Department of Transportation officials. Invitations also have been extended to railroad industry officials.
The meeting’s purpose is to discuss and look for answers to what the Hixson Republican calls the growing problem of drivers on “taxpayer-funded roads” who are left idling for 30 minutes and sometimes hours because of trains stopping on crossings.
The meeting is from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Awaken Center at Abba’s House, located at 5208 Hixson Pike.
Smith said she’s hoping it will provide a “first step” in finding both short-term and long-term solutions “rather than just talking about this problem.”