Two members of the City Of Knoxville Horticulture division water plants at 1 p.m. tying up traffic on Gay Street for blocks!

Today at approximately 1 p.m. traffic in downtown Knoxville was snarled on Gay Street.  Two employees with the City of Knoxville Horticulture Department continuously blocked traffic  with a City owned pickup truck that included a water tank and hose.  The employees would drive to a planter on Gay Street, stop driving, then water the plants and move up to the next planter. They would then stop traffic again, water the plants, and move to the next location of a nearby planter.

In this picture traffic going North bound on Gay Street is at a stand still because it is being blocked by a City vehicle.

 We at the Knoxville Focus have asked the spokesperson for the City Mayor, Jesse Mayshark,  why watering plants on Gay Street  is not done when traffic is less busy or why they are being watered at all after several days of rain. We also have requested to know why the City simply does not use a portable walking water caddy. Readers can find an example  here. We will update this post as soon as we receive more information.

Dan Andrews reporting.

Update: 4:35 pm est  Mr. Mayshark has just emailed us the following… “The answer is that we have many, many planters to water and using a truck is often the most efficient way to handle it. And for most locations, a truck is fine.  David Brace says that he does agree that doing it in the middle of the day on Gay Street is not ideal. He says, “Tell Dan thanks for the feedback and we’ll look into a solution with our manager/foreman.”

End of report.