Audio clip
John Proffitt
CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Southeast Tennessee counties didn’t get any new state road projects this year because the state doesn’t have money to pay for them, state officials said Friday.
“We simply don’t have enough money to put a project in every county and every RPO,” said Paul Degges, chief engineer for the Tennessee Department of Transportation.
Members of the Southeast Tennessee Rural Planning Organization met with TDOT officials at Cleveland High School to hear them explain why the counties were left out of the state’s three-year work programs this year. Such programs are awarded annually and implemented within three years.
When the list was announced in April, only Hamilton County got a project.
The TDOT officials said federal funds have been cut and state gas tax revenues are flat, even as fuel and construction costs are soaring. Shrinking funding means fewer projects, Mr. Degges said.
Polk County Executive Mike Stinnett said he undersands why TDOT cannot fund all the projects needed. But not seeing results after working on transportation planning over the last two years can be disheartening, he said.
“It’s frustrating when we go through this process, make our selections and it does not show in the pipeline,” Mr. Stinnett said.
Rep. Bill Harmon, D-Dunlap, agreed the results were upsetting. He said he was “still mad” that widening State Route 111 didn’t make the list. But he said local officials should work through the RPO to keep TDOT aware of their priorities.
s“If we didn’t have this process, half these projects today wouldn’t be on anybody’s radar screen,” he said.
Ed Cole, TDOT’s chief of environment and planning, said the RPO is only two years old and it takes time for projects to get to the construction phase.
He said money will continue to be a problem.
“We have to make sure every investment is critical,” Mr. Cole said.
Athens Mayor John Proffitt said after the meeting he thought the explanation by TDOT was adequate.
“We have some things to take back and look at, they have some things to take back and look at,” he said. “Hopefully, the RPO keeps moving forward.”
Cliff has worked for the Times Free Press for five years and covers Chattanooga city government. He previously covered Rhea County, as well as transportation and growth and development in Southeast Tennessee. A native of Maryville, Tenn., Cliff graduated in 2003 from the University of Tennessee with a bachelor’s degree in communications with an emphasis on journalism. Before coming to Chattanooga, he was a crime reporter with Hernando Today, a supplement of The Tampa (Fla.) ...
