BO WATSON

State of Tennessee PATSY HAZLEWOOD

SENATOR General Assembly REPRESENTATIVE

425 5th Avenue North, Suite 706 425 5th Avenue North, Suite 544
Nashville, TN Nashville, TN
(615) 741-3227 (615) 741-2746

July 12, 2018

Mr. John Schroer, Commissioner

Tennessee Department of Transportation
James K. Polk Building, Suite 700
505 Deaderick Street
Nashville, Tennessee 37243

Dear Commissioner Schroer:

We recently received the updated report on the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT)
projects in our House and Senate districts. Thank you for this information. It is very useful to us as
we discuss the State’s spending on infrastructure like roads and bridges throughout our area.

The Tennessee House of Representatives and Senate passed the “Improve Act” in 2017. We were both
supporters of the amended version of the Act. Part of our rationale for support was the inclusion of
improvements to Highway 127 leading up Signal Mountain particularly the area that has received a
number of TDOT repairs due to excessive water runoff and cracks in the roadway.
Our concerns escalated when the road on Highway 68 collapsed between Spring City and Grandview
in April of this year. The environmental circumstances surrounding the Highway 68 collapse
“…heavy rains caused cracks to open in the road,” (Chattanooga Times Free Press, April 24, 2018),
appeared eerily similar to the area of Highway 127 leading up Signal Mountain.
We are pleased, of course, that the Highway 127 project is included in the TDOT report. What is
disappointing to us is there appears to have been no change in the status of the project.
Let us be clear – 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.
Certainly TDOT’s regular inspection of the area is appreciated; however, like the Highway 68
collapse, “While TDOT was evaluating the cracks [on Highway 68], the roadway broke off and
fell…,” (Chattanooga Times Free Press, April 24, 2018), the inspections do not eliminate the risk of
failure. We believe that moving forward with a long-term solution has reached a critical stage. Recent
Commissioner Schroer
July 12, 2018
Page 2

heavy rains with rocks falling onto cars and across the roadway have only served to heighten our
uneasiness with this area of the road.
We look forward to the opportunity to engage with you and your team in a discussion on how we can
best move this project forward.

Sincerely,

Patsy Hazlewood Bo Watson

TN State Representative TN State Senator

cc: Chris Howley, Mayor, Town of Signal Mountain

Jim Fields, County Commissioner
Joe Deering, Director, TDOT Region 2
Paul Degges, Deputy Commissioner, TDOT
Jim Henry, Tennessee Deputy Governor