TDOT presents plan for 26-mile I-24 Southeast 'Choice Lanes,' opens public comment

The Tennessee Department of Transportation on Aug. 14 presented its draft plan to add two priced "Choice Lanes" in each direction along approximately 26 miles of I-24 between south of downtown Nashville and near Murfreesboro, and opened a public comment period that runs through Sept. 19, 2024.

Rebecca Hammonds, P3 communications officer at TDOT, said Choice Lanes are "priced managed lanes that provide motorists the option to bypass congestion in exchange for a user fee." Hammonds told attendees the lanes would be optional and that no existing general-purpose or High-Occupancy Vehicle lanes would be removed.

The project team said the I-24 Southeast corridor was selected after congestion analyses identified it among the most frequently congested corridors in the state. Brian Ledford (executive director; affiliation not specified in the meeting transcript) described the draft purpose and need as improving travel-time reliability, addressing regional connectivity and supporting multimodal mobility along the corridor. Environmental studies began in early 2024 and TDOT expects the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) process to conclude in 2025.

Why it matters: TDOT officials said the project would use a public–private partnership (P3) model in which a private partner would design, build, finance, operate and maintain the new lanes in exchange for future user fees. The Transportation Modernization Act (TMA) passed in 2023 authorized P3 delivery of Choice Lanes and…