NASHVILLE - Two state lawmakers from Hamilton County are putting Tennessee Transportation Commissioner John Schroer in no uncertain terms that they want the department to move faster to fix problems on U.S. Highway 127 as the road goes up Signal Mountain.
Citing concerns in a letter dated Monday, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Bo Watson, R-Hixson, and Rep. Patsy Hazlewood, R-Signal Mountain, told Schroer the long-awaited project has now reached a "critical stage" and was a factor in their decision to back Gov. Bill Haslam's 2017 Improve Act, which raised gas taxes to kick-start hundreds of road projects across Tennessee.
"We are pleased, of course, that the Highway 127 project is included in the TDOT report," the lawmakers wrote. "What is disappointing to us is there appears to have been no change in the status of the project.
"Let us be clear," the lawmakers added, "this is a priority project to us. Highway 127 was discussed extensively with TDOT and the Administration during the 'Improve Act' negotiations and we shared the concerns that the City of Signal Mountain and many residents had expressed to us regarding the potential failure of this vital transportation route."
The road, known locally as Signal Mountain Boulevard, is a key link between Signal Mountain and Chattanooga. Major rock slides can quickly shut the road down, forcing thousands of residents to use the windy, two-lane W Road.
State officials are looking at a series of improvements to U.S. 127, estimated at $10.2 million in 2012, with work on upgrading drainage ditches, rebuilding sections of the road where stability is of concern and mitigating the chance of rock falls in problem areas.
Watson and Hazlewood said the extensive repairs required for U.S. 127 "have taken on new urgency" after portions of State Route 68 collapsed between Spring City and Grandview in April.
Citing a Times Free Press article detailing how heavy cracks had caused cracks to open in the road, Watson and Hazlewood said the environmental circumstances "appeared eerily similar to the area of Highway 127 leading up Signal Mountain" and "escalated concern."
While TDOT's regular inspection of the roadway is appreciated, the lawmakers cited another Times Free Press news account that even as workers were inspecting Highway 68 a section of the roadway broke off and fell.
"[I]nspections do not eliminate the risk of failure," Watson and Hazlewood wrote." We believe that moving forward with a long-term solution has reached a critical stage. Recent heavy rains with rocks falling onto cars and across the roadway have only served to heighten our uneasiness with this area of the road."
Schroer spokeswoman B.J. Doughty did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the lawmakers' letter.