Governor signs transportation act in Jackson
JACKSON, Tenn. — A bill was signed in Jackson on Monday that will change Tennessee transportation forever.
“The Transportation Modernization Act is a gamechanger for the State of Tennessee, and it’s impact will be felt for decades to come,” said Gov. Bill Lee.
This will create a new strategy and invest $3.3 billion to accommodate Tennessee’s record growth, address traffic congestion, and meet transportation needs across rural and urban communities.
Lee said that Tennessee is one of the fastest growing states in the nation, and they need to keep up with that growth.
“And this new funding stream will allow us to fund these types of projects well beyond the locations they are being funded right now,” he said.
The legislation will be giving the Tennessee Department of Transportation the resources needed to solve the state’s current and future mobility challenges.
That includes seeking the use of public-private partnerships to preserve state funds for rural infrastructure priorities, exploring choice lanes to decrease congestion and increase economic impact statewide, and expanding the alternative delivery model to save taxpayer dollars and deliver road projects more efficiently.
According to Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, this is a plan Tennesseans can be proud of.
He says it is an innovative approach to modernize our transportation infrastructure without raising taxes.
“Infrastructure that we are seeing put in place is absolutely critical to Tennessee’s competitive advantage. As the governor said, we are one of the fastest growing states in the nation. We need to keep up with that growth,” said Sen. Bill Hagerty.
According to District 48 Engineer for Jackson and Madison County Cody Roberts, the projects in Jackson has amounted to an investment of $194 million.
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