Creekside Drive Hole Causing Damage to Cars in Front of Auto Shop

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Drivers and business owners are expressing their frustration over a significantly large pothole on Creekside Drive, off of Amnicola Highway. The gaping hole has created substantial issues for motorists, including noticeable damage to their vehicles.

Impact on Local Business

Tiffany Rankins dropped off her vehicle at Quick Everett’s Garage for some repairs when she and her mother, Vannice Hughley, encountered the substantial depression. “We hit something that was beyond a pothole. Like a gully. We were tumbling around in the car. It knocked down our undercarriage,” Rankins recounted.

Quick Everett’s Garage, operated by owner Perry Freeman since 2018, has been handling the issue for years. Freeman voiced his frustration, “It’s gotten big enough to where even your standard cars are hitting their oil pans, busting tires, even at 5 to 10 miles per hour. It’s frustrating to see cars his crew has worked on sustaining unneeded damage coming in and out of his business. The only thing that happens is about once a year the pothole patrol comes out, and they throw loose asphalt in it”

Further Complications

The approach of filling the pothole with loose asphalt has proven ineffective. Freeman explained, “by the end of the day, the trucks have washed it out into the water areas, the water drainage, so by the next time it rains, there’s a lake right in front of the business.”

According to Freeman, Chattanooga Department of Transportation inspectors assessed the hole on a recent Friday morning. In a follow-up statement provided by a spokesperson, ” The subsurface is suffering from a failure that we believe resulted from tractor-trailers traversing the asphalt before it fully set when repaved in 2013. The failures are occurring directly in front of the United Packers driveway on the northbound side and where trucks make sweeping turns into the same driveway going southbound.”

Concerns and Future Actions

Vannice Hughley is facing hefty repair bills due to the damage caused by the pothole on Creekside Drive. “Being a senior citizen on a fixed income, I can’t afford this. I can’t afford this. I had to have a tire plug because of that gully!” she expressed.

The spokesperson concluded that they’re hoping to address the issue with a more permanent solution in the coming fiscal year. As for now, motorists are advised to navigate the area with caution to avoid further damage.