NASHVILLE — Gov. Bill Lee’s plan to contract with private companies to build express toll lanes to go alongside existing Tennessee freeways in urban areas barely scraped through the state Senate Transportation Committee on a 5-4 vote Wednesday.
The plan met bipartisan objections from critics who, among other things, said foreign companies would likely operate the tollways.
The criticism comes as the Republican governor seeks permission and authority to explore and ultimately enter into contractual agreements with private companies to build what the administration has sought to brand as “choice” lanes. The toll lanes, which motorists could choose to take or not, would be utilized in urban areas such as Metro Nashville and possibly Hamilton County.
Lee and his transportation commissioner, Butch Eley, said with a $26 billion backlog in state-funded projects, the public-private partnership agreements make sense. A number of states, including Georgia, have similar privately financed and operated special toll lanes.
Legislative critics complained in committee Wednesday, however, that the company running the venture will likely be foreign, citing the experience of other states. The Spanish company Abertis, for instance, owns toll facilities in Virginia.