NEWS

TDOT delays $400 million worth of road projects to 2016

Mary Troyan
Tennessean Washington Bureau


WASHINGTON – Tennessee's highway director has delayed $400 million in road projects until fiscal 2016 because of uncertainty over future federal funding.

John Schroer, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Transportation, notified state lawmakers in a Friday letter that the 12 construction projects and 21 right-of-way acquisitions were supposed to be finished in fiscal 2015, which ends on Sept. 30 next year.

"While these projects are only delayed and not canceled, they represent almost $400 million in transportation investments that could be helping to modernize our transportation network and reducing congestion and making Tennessee a more attractive destination for economic expansion," Schroer wrote Friday.

Congress recently shored up the depleted federal Highway Trust Fund with $10.8 billion, a temporary fix to allow state road projects to continue through May. But Congress has struggled to complete a full six-year highway bill, which state transportation officials rely upon as a predictable source of revenue to schedule long-term projects.

Schroer, in his letter, asked state legislators to lobby the Tennessee congressional delegation for a long-term federal transportation bill. Federal money makes up about half of TDOT's annual budget, and it pays for more than 90 percent of the work designed to expand capacity.

"The instability in the flow of these dollars is certainly having an impact on Tennesseans today," he said.

Among the delayed construction projects are an I-55 interchange in Shelby County ($32.4 million), a truck climbing lane on I-40 east in Dickson and Williamson counties ($26.7 million) and work on I-40 east to I-440 south in Davidson County ($3 million).

The 33 stalled projects are in addition to 13 projects moved from fiscal 2014 to fiscal 2015. Those could be delayed further if federal funding expires at the end of May, said Heather Jensen, a TDOT spokeswoman.

Republican Sen. Bob Corker has introduced a bipartisan proposal to increase the federal tax on gasoline and diesel by 12 cents over two years, and then index it to inflation in future years, plus a corresponding decrease in taxes elsewhere in the tax code. The fuel taxes are the primary source of revenue for the federal Highway Trust Fund, and improved fuel economy in vehicles has slowed revenues to the fund. The 18.4-cent-per-gallon gas tax hasn't been raised since 1993.

Schroer's letter does not reference the proposed tax hike, which has been praised by business groups and criticized by conservatives.

"Our competition in the developing markets of China, India and Brazil, among others is making the investments in infrastructure that we are not making what will ultimately impact our ability to be economically competitive on the world stage," he wrote.

Contact Mary Troyan at mtroyan@usatoday.com.