Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner John Schroer Wednesday released TDOT’s annual three year transportation program, featuring approximately $2.6 billion in infrastructure investments for 101 individual project phases in 40 counties, as well as 15 statewide programs.
The three-year program is more robust than previous years, due to funding increases through the IMPROVE Act, which is projected to raise an additional $150 million to meet the state’s infrastructure needs in FY 2018. This increase, combined with $120 million repayment to the highway fund, provides the necessary funds to move several backlogged and new transportation projects forward in the first year of the program.
Key area projects listed in the program include: the construction of 3.2 miles of Highway 60/Georgetown Road (from north of I-75 to State Route 306/Freewill Road) and preliminary engineering for the next phase of the project from State Route 306/Freewill Road to State Route 58. The plan also includes preliminary engineering for the widening of I-75 from US 64 to US 74, and from Cleveland to the McMinn County line, as well as the preliminary engineering for widening of State Route 2/North Lee Highway (from Anatole Lane to Lauderdale Memorial Highway in Charleston). The program features more than $30 million of investments for project phases in the Bradley County area.
"Today is a great day for Bradley County and our constituents who consistently ask us about the progress on Hwy 60 / Georgetown Road project,” said Rep. Kevin Brooks (Cleveland). “The IMPROVE Act allows for hundreds of badly needed road improvements to begin across the State. Here in Bradley Co, we have four major road projects which are funded in the new 3-year
Funding Plan. I am grateful to Governor Haslam and Commissioner Schroer for their pledge to help get our Bradley County roads improved as soon as possible."
Rep. Dan Howell (Georgetown) added, "The roster of TDOT projects in Bradley County is impressive. But to have these major road projects on a three year completion list is significant. The widening of Highway 60 will not only stimulate economic growth along that corridor, but the enhanced safety factor for Hopewell Elementary and Cleveland Middle school will be a welcome improvement. I am grateful to Governor Haslam and TDOT Commissioner Schroer for recognizing our infrastructure needs in Bradley County as the local economy continues to grow."
The IMPROVE Act also identifies 526 locally owned bridges across Tennessee. With the new funding in place, TDOT has included a new funding category for the High Priority Bridge program in its overall budget. A delivery schedule for those bridges should be complete in the near future.
In addition to the 2018 budgeted program, partial plans for 2019 and 2020 are included, along with funding for 15 transportation programs including Rockfall Mitigation, Spot Safety Improvement, and the statewide HELP Program. The program also provides funding for transit agencies in all 95 counties, as well as Metropolitan and Rural Planning Organizations.
To view a complete list of projects and programs funded through the 2018-2020 three-year multimodal program, visit http://www.tn.gov/assets/entities/tdot/attachments/Three_Year_Transportation_Plan_(FY_18-
20).pdf.
For an interactive map view of projects, please visit https://www.tdot.tn.gov/projectneeds/spot#/