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TPO approves 11 TIP amendments; several projects removed to align with TDOT 10-year plan
Summary
Committee approved 11 amendments to the current Transportation Improvement Program, including project removals tied to the recent TDOT 10-year plan update and revisions to a Knoxville advanced traffic management project.
The Transportation Planning Organization Technical Committee approved a set of 11 amendments to the current Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), staff said, updating project schedules and aligning the TIP with the newly released Tennessee Department of Transportation 10-year plan.
Craig Lipke, TPO staff, told the committee the amendments reflect a mix of normal schedule updates and removals tied to the 10-year plan. ‘‘There are indeed quite a few amendments and this is largely related to the mobility plan adoption and 10 year plan update,’’ Lipke said. He said nine of the 11 amended projects are exempt from air-quality requirements and two are non-exempt.
Key items Lipke highlighted include a revision to the City of Knoxville’s Advanced Traffic Management System Phase 1. The project’s termini were clarified for two corridors — Kingston Pike (Metron Center Way to Huxley Road) and Broadway (Jackson Avenue to Foley Drive) — and development-phase costs (NEPA, design, right-of-way) were added while construction phases were split off to be entered as separate projects. Lipke said the development-phase additions include PM2.5-eligible funds of $481,000 and $440,000 in the current fiscal year.
Lipke also described a set of removals of widening and interchange projects that ‘‘do not align with the timing in the 10 year plan.’’ He summarized the net effect as roughly $58 million being removed from the TIP, including approximately $24 million in LSTBG and $22.7 million in NHPP funding categories. He said TDOT added one I-75 widening design phase in Loudon County funded with state dollars.
A committee member asked how removed projects could return to active status; staff said projects could re-enter the 10-year plan as TDOT updates the plan and if additional state funding becomes available. Staff also noted that some large projects may be recast into smaller segments and re-enter the TIP in parts; for example, portions of Chapman Highway related to a federal Safe Streets and Roads for All grant will reappear in TIP project calls.
The committee approved the TIP amendments by voice vote; the meeting record states ‘‘Ayes have it.’’ The mover and seconder were on the record but not named in the transcript and no roll-call tally was provided.
Why it matters: the TIP is the region’s short-term, fiscally constrained program of projects. Aligning the TIP with TDOT’s 10-year plan ensures consistency between state project priorities and locally programmed federal funds.
What’s next: staff said they will continue coordination with TDOT as the 10-year plan evolves and will manage future TIP project calls that may reintroduce some removed projects in updated forms.
