Tennessee Gov. Begins Tour of State’s Aging Infrastructure
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam (R) will visit 15 cities across the state over the next two months to draw attention to aging roads and bridges needing repair.
Haslam indicated the state needs money to make up for a multibillion-dollar backlog of highway projects.
“We know that we can’t depend on the federal government to be the funding partner that it once was. We also know that, as our infrastructure ages, maintenance becomes more important and more expensive. And we know that maintaining our roads is only part of the equation,” Haslam said, in a statement.
John Schroer, the state’s commissioner of transportation, will join Haslam on the tour.
“In putting together a long-range plan, we look to Tennessee communities to help prioritize these projects to make sure we’re addressing evolving traffic patterns, population growth, safety issues, and the many other things that impact our infrastructure. These conversations are invaluable to the process,” Schroer said.
They plan to make stops in Clarksville, Union City, Jackson, Nashville, Franklin, Kingsport, Greeneville, Shelbyville, Murfreesboro, Crossville, Chattanooga, Cleveland, Lenoir City and Knoxville. Their first stop was Aug. 5 in Memphis.
The tour was scheduled a few months after Schroer stripped $400 million worth of highway projects from this year’s construction program due to federal and state funding uncertainty.
Tennessee relies heavily on reimbursements from the federal Highway Trust Fund, an account that Congress allows to approach depletion with regularity.
Several transportation observers have argued that the statewide tour appears to be an effort to increase public support for raising fuel taxes to pay for highway projects. Earlier this year, the Tennessee comptroller’s office noted that fuel taxes will not be enough to maintain current infrastructure systems and to pay for long-term transportation needs.
Tennessee raised its gasoline tax in 1989 to 21.4 cents per gallon. In 1990, state lawmakers set the diesel tax at 18.4 cents a gallon. Responding to growing funding demands, several states recently have raised fuel taxes to pump revenue into their transportation coffers.
Tennessee’s pay-as-you-go funding system prohibits lawmakers from relying on debt to fund projects, adding to the need on the part of officials to raise revenue.
Dave Huneryager, CEO of the Tennessee Trucking Association, said he supports efforts aimed at raising diesel and gasoline taxes to boost capacity and cut back on congestion along the region’s freight routes.
“We are very excited about any conversation that could lead to a long-term funding solution for the future of Tennessee’s infrastructure. Our members look forward to being a part of the conversation,” Huneryager told Transport Topics.
The Volunteer State is near two of the country’s most congested freight corridors. Atlanta’s Interstate 285 at I-85, and Louisville’s I-65 at I-64/I-71 are ranked in the top 10 of the American Transportation Research Institute’s 2014 survey of congested U.S. freight highways.
