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TDOT outlines $1.1 billion infusion, updated 10-year plan; Kingsport MPO staff detail regional model and household travel survey
Summary
TDOT staff described a one-time $1.1 billion general-fund infusion and $80 million recurring transfer to transportation, and outlined how funds will be allocated. Kingsport MPO staff described steps toward a regional travel demand model and a statewide household travel survey recruiting residents for travel-day data collection.
Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) staff briefed the Kingsport MTPO on a one-time $1.1 billion general-fund infusion and an ongoing $80 million recurring transfer proposed to support transportation projects and programs, and outlined where the initial infusion would be targeted.
Dexter Justice, director of project management for East Tennessee at TDOT, said the $1.1 billion request included a nonrecurring one-time infusion and $80 million in recurring general-fund transfers (sourced in legislation from a tire-related fee) to support ongoing transportation work. He described the distribution of the one-time funds, including $125 million to the paving program, $75 million to the bridge program, $20 million to a spot-safety program, $50 million to a new state infrastructure fund (structured as a low-interest loan program for local governments), funds to expand service patrol into rural areas, and $774 million allocated to expedited projects in the updated 10-year plan.
Justice said an updated 10-year plan released in April and revised later to show the infusion allocates $745 million for a set of statewide projects; in East Tennessee, three projects were selected in the expedited list including two I-40/I-75 corridor interchange upgrades in Knox County and a $20 million safety/intersection project on State Route 35 in Sevier County. He described the Paper Mill exit area on I-40/I-75 as the state’s highest average-daily-traffic location at about 212,000 vehicles per day.
On staffing, MPO staff noted turnover at Federal Highway in Tennessee, reducing local FHWA planning contacts and potentially slowing reviews. Leslie (MPO staff) said several FHWA planners and a supervisor recently left and staff expressed concern about short staffing during TIP and federal review processes.
MPO staff also briefed the board on regional technical work: Kingsport MPO staff said they are moving toward a regional travel demand model shared among Bristol, Johnson City and Kingsport and will begin procurement for the 2050 long-range plan consultant. The MPO is also participating in a statewide household travel survey managed by UT Knoxville’s Center for Transportation Research with contractors WSP and Westat; the survey recruits households by mail and assigns a travel day for respondents to record travel via app or online entry.
Leslie said the survey aims for 10,500 returns across eight participating MPOs (with a target of 1,500 in the Tri-Cities area and roughly 500 each for Kingsport, Bristol and Johnson City). She urged residents who received recruitment letters to complete the survey and said the spring wave would pause for summer and resume in fall, with May 23 noted as the last travel day in that round. Staff said the regional travel demand model transition will follow Bristol’s lead and move through Johnson City next, with the Tri-Cities eventually running on the same modeling platform and consultant maintenance.
MPO project staff provided brief local project updates at the meeting and reminded members of a one-week schedule change for the August meeting due to a TDOT MPO conference.
