The Transportation Coalition of Tennessee has posted a new, interactive webpage showing nearly 400 unfunded state road/highway projects. The webpage is part of the coalition’s ongoing education initiative to highlight transportation infrastructure funding problems.
The unfunded projects come to nearly $8 billion, says Susie Alcorn, executive director of the Tennessee Infrastructure Alliance.
The map shows unfunded state projects in nearly every one of Tennessee’s 95 counties. Ms. Alcorn and other coalition members have been traveling the state talking to local mayors, county road superintendents and economic development officials about the need to reform the current funding mechanism for the state’s roads and bridges. Governor Bill Haslam has also launched a transportation listening tour, and state Senator Jim Tracy has announced his own hearings for this fall.
“We can no longer keep up with the maintenance needs of our state roads and bridges, much less build new projects,” Ms. Alcorn said. “Failure to address this issue means unsafe roads and bridges and lost economic development opportunities for our state and residents.
The link to the webpage is http://www.tcoftn.org/unfunded-projects.html.
The online slideshow provides a comprehensive look at 379 state projects by county, including estimated costs for each. The data also includes information from the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations on local funding issues for county and municipal projects.