A little bridge to be built in the corridor between Atlanta and Chattanooga shows that a little investment can go a long way.
The Tiger Creek replacement bridge could easily be overlooked on the list of 20 contracts GDOT let on May 16. It is less expensive than almost every other project, and is dwarfed by a third of its classmates.
But the Tiger Creek bridge was funded. That fact alone makes it special.
When Atlantans look around for other cities to compare theirs with, they think major league all the way. They measure their growth against Houston and Dallas. They travel to Denver and Seattle to find civic inspiration and worry that Charlotte and Nashville are gaining on them.
But as we contemplate the hotter, wetter future we discussed last week, we might be better off taking a look at Chattanooga.
Yes, Chattanooga. Seldom do we think of our neighbor across the Tennessee line as much of a competitor. When they built an aquarium, we just built a bigger one. But for nearly three decades, since a group of civic leaders got together in 1984 and committed themselves to doing something about Chattanooga’s image as the dirtiest city in America, and in the view of some the dullest, they have been eating our lunch on the playing field of liveability.
