Committee backs bill to create state authority for underground transit amid privatization concerns

Sponsor Representative Garrett described HB2450 as a framework to coordinate subterranean transportation projects and to create an 11-member authority to consolidate permitting, inspections and uniform engineering and life-safety standards. Garrett said the authority would be activated after execution of a qualifying state lease or by July 30, 2026, and that the state fire marshal would retain exclusive jurisdiction over fire and life-safety reviews. He said the structure, "not only provides certainty to private partners who are willing to invest for this project here in Tennessee at no tax dollar expense but also ensures rural communities... are not left out of any potential future innovation."

Critics pushed back sharply on private control, emergency access, and judicial review. Representative Pearson said the project looked like a "billionaire co-opting government" and warned that some proposals, including the Music City Loop run by The Boring Company, would be private, limited-access tunnels serving only certain vehicles. She said she had attended public opposition meetings in Nashville and questioned whether EMS and 911 could access the tunnels without private permission. Sponsor Garrett replied that any operator would fall under the authority if the law passes and that the authority is not an exclusive agreement with a single operator. The committee also heard from Joel Hayes of the Office of Legal Services, who said the bill’s language appears to make the authority’s administrative appeals final for judicial-review purposes but did not clearly foreclose court review; he described the likely administrative-then-judicial sequence and noted the bill is silent on some judicial-review details. The committee adopted the amendments and advanced HB2450 to the full Transportation Committee by a recorded tally of 7–2.