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Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam will make a stop in Williamson County sometime in the next two months as he tours the state to discuss transportation and infrastructure needs with Tennessee communities.
Haslam announced Tuesday that he will travel the state with Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner John Schroer over the next six weeks to discuss the state’s needs relating to the functionality and capacity of Tennessee’s state roads and highways, safety issues around roads and bridges, and the impact of infrastructure on economic development efforts in urban and rural communities.
“Tennessee’s transportation and infrastructure system always ranks at or near the top when compared to the rest of the country,” Haslam said.
“We have no transportation debt, and we do a great job maintaining our roads, but we know we have challenges on the horizon.”
Haslam said Tennessee can no longer depend on the federal government as a funding partner, and that maintenance and the associated costs are a growing concern as infrastructure ages.
“And we know that maintaining our roads is only part of the equation. Right now, we have a multi-billion dollar backlog of highway projects across this state that address key access, safety and economic development issues, and that’s only going to grow.”
There will be 15 meetings held throughout August and early September in Memphis, Clarksville, Union City, Jackson, Nashville, Franklin, Kingsport, Greeneville, Shelbyville, Murfreesboro, Crossville, Chattanooga, Cleveland, Lenoir City and Knoxville.
Participants will include state legislators, mayors, local elected officials, business leaders, chamber of commerce executives and local infrastructure officials.
“TDOT is responsible for taking care of the assets we already have, for implementing current projects in the most cost-effective way and for planning for the state’s infrastructure needs of the future,” Schroer said.
“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.”
The first meeting will be held Wednesday, Aug. 5 in Memphis at the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce.
A date and location have not yet been set for the officials’ Franklin visit.
Williamson County Mayor Rogers Anderson is also planning a transit summit, “Williamson Moves,” sometime in September where stakeholders will discuss transportation infrastructure needs and how to mitigate growing traffic issues in the county.
