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Crumbling Tennessee roads and bridges bring higher taxes and fees

FILE - In this Feb. 18, 2017 file photo, officials look over the scene at Interstate 15 in the Cajon Pass, Calif., where part of the freeway collapsed due to heavy rain. A state $5 billion annual plan raises fuel taxes and vehicle fees to pay for repairs to state and local roads, while also providing money for public transit and biking and walking trails. (David Pardo/The Daily Press via AP, file)
FILE - In this Feb. 18, 2017 file photo, officials look over the scene at Interstate 15 in the Cajon Pass, Calif., where part of the freeway collapsed due to heavy rain. A state $5 billion annual plan raises fuel taxes and vehicle fees to pay for repairs to state and local roads, while also providing money for public transit and biking and walking trails. (David Pardo/The Daily Press via AP, file) FILE - In this Feb. 18, 2017 file photo, officials look over the scene at Interstate 15 in the Cajon Pass, Calif., where part of the freeway collapsed due to heavy rain. A state $5 billion annual plan raises fuel taxes and vehicle fees to pay for repairs to state and local roads, while also providing money for public transit and biking and walking trails. (David Pardo/The Daily Press via AP, file)

By Associated Press 6 min read

For the first time in nearly 30 years, Tennessee will soon tax motorists more to fill their tanks. So will California, Indiana and Montana.

Lawmakers across the U.S. have approved new proposals this year to pay for transportation improvements, including tax hikes, vehicle fee increases and bond packages. Those measures extended an existing trend to a new milestone: Two-thirds of all states have stepped up highway funding over the past five years.

It’s happening in both Democratic- and Republican-led states as their transportation departments strain to overcome backlogs deepened by the last recession. And lawmakers are acting regardless of promises from President Donald Trump for a $1 trillion national infrastructure program that his administration has yet to detail.

Some state officials doubt that Trump’s plan will make much of a difference when it comes to repairing and replacing thousands of old bridges or repaving and widening countless miles of congested roads.

“We really don’t know what’s in it. We haven’t seen anything,” said Tennessee state Rep. Eddie Smith, a Republican from Knoxville. But “it sounded like there wasn’t going to be a lot that we would directly benefit from.”