Tue
Jul 14 2009
02:28 am
$30 million for 800-foot-long bridge on the "Missing Link" section of the Foothills Parkway
By: jbr

I have biked on it a little a long time ago but I cannot recall it clearly. Does anyone think the unfinished Foothills Parkway would work as a hiking/biking/horse/electric bus/camping sort of entity with the lookout spots with periodic park outreach sorts of things?

That sounds like an impressive bridge they have planned.

The NS article
(link...)
Elrod's picture

That's a lot of money for a viaduct

Submitted by Elrod on Tue, 2009/07/14 - 9:25am.

But considering the history of this road - the 1944 plan, the hillside collapse during earlier iterations of the viaduct - it makes sense that the government would spend that money on it.

sugarfatpie's picture

I'll be surprised if the

Submitted by sugarfatpie on Tue, 2009/07/14 - 10:19am.

I'll be surprised if the "missing link" ever gets linked. How long have they been trying to build it? How many millions spent?
Time to stop throwing good money after bad and move on.

-Sugarfatpie (AKA Alex Pulsipher)

"X-Rays are a hoax."-Lord Kelvin

Brian A.'s picture

It makes you wonder how we

Submitted by Brian A. on Tue, 2009/07/14 - 11:04am.

It makes you wonder how we could ever afford to have a road built over the mountains . . . in a low tech era. I wonder how much such a project would cost if started today?

Brian A.
I'd rather be cycling.

ma am's picture

Bridge to Nowhere

Submitted by ma am on Wed, 2009/07/15 - 11:00pm.

Unbelievable that half the funds for the Smokies park would go to a freaking bridge. That (hopefully) will never be linked. That (I believe) isn't even within the park boundary. That doesn't help alleviate the huge traffic problems the park has. That doesn't purchase more land to add to the park. That doesn't do anything to help with the wooly adelgid destroying the park's hemlocks. That doesn't build or repair trails. That doesn't stop the rampant development at the park boundary.

And as an aside, it is the HORSE trails that get maintenance. Why? Because horses ruin the trails and fill the streams with sediment and nitrates and microbes from their effluent. Do any hiking trails get any maintenance? No.

Factchecker's picture

And many hiking trails get

Submitted by Factchecker on Thu, 2009/07/16 - 7:28pm.

And many hiking trails get ruined by horses that aren't supposed to be on those trails. While our pols like Jimmy Duncan have never shown much interest in "bridging" the huge maintenance funding shortfall.

gonzone's picture

Funny

Submitted by gonzone on Thu, 2009/07/16 - 9:02pm.

I am amused by the use of the phrase "missing link" to describe something in our lovely area of mountains. Might be a cousin!

"If ignorance is bliss, why aren't more people happy?"

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

TN Progressive

TN Politics

Knox TN Today

Local TV News

News Sentinel

    State News

    Wire Reports

    Lost Medicaid Funding

    To date, the failure to expand Medicaid/TennCare has cost the State of Tennessee ? in lost federal funding. (Source)

    Search and Archives