TDOT officials move mountain of asphalt
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Although they had previously said there were no immediate plans to move it, officials with the Tennessee Department of Transportation announced Thursday crews are in the process of removing the enormous pile of asphalt chippings.
Around 10 trucks with workers from four different counties were on hand Thursday morning hustling to make good on that announcement.
The chippings were left near the Angels Bridge after crews scraped 1-1/4 inches of road away in preparation for resurfacing the Highway 70 Bypass in September.
A TDOT official had said early this week there were no immediate plans to move the estimated 10,000 tons of debris and that it would be recycled and used in various small projects on an as-needed basis.
In making Thursday’s announcement, TDOT regional community relations officer Jennifer Osborne said the material will still be used but will be stored at different locations. She indicated the material was located there for practical reasons and that it was never intended to cause aesthetic issues.
“We want to do our part and we’re trying to be more responsive to the public under this new administration,” she said. “We want to do our part to be good neighbors and didn’t mean to cause a problem.”
Earl Boles, a TDOT supervisor from Chattanooga who was on site at Angels Bridge Thursday, said it could take around a week to remove the materials.
The debris was located across from a planting project initiated by McMinnville urban forester Nick Kuhn, whose department had planted around 80 trees there about two years ago in an effort to make one of the city’s so-called “gateways,” or entrances, look better. Kuhn said he believed TDOT should be commended for turning things around.
“That’s great,” he said of the news. “That will help.”