CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Governor Bill Haslam was in Clarksville Thursday, August 6 to meet and talk with local officials about Tennessee’s transportation and infrastructure needs. The visit was the second of 15 stops across the state discussing the state’s roads and highways, safety issues, and the impact infrastructure has on economic development.
Haslam was joined at the meeting at the Clarksville Area Chamber of Commerce by Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) Commissioner John Schroer along with other state officials. Many state lawmakers and local community leaders were also on hand to talk about and hear what the Governor had to say about roadways in Clarksville-Montgomery County and surrounding areas.
The Governor said the meeting was not to propose a specific solution to the challenge of infrastructure. He said it was to talk about why there is a challenge to infrastructure needs in the state, what the scope of the problem is and the time it will take to solve the problem.
TDOT is funded primarily by state and federal gas taxes. During the meeting figures were shown how less funding was coming in to the state for road projects from fuel taxes because vehicles are more fuel-efficient than they used to be. Another funding issue is the uncertainty from the Federal Highway Trust Fund
Haslam is reportedly considering a plan to increase the state’s gas tax which hasn’t been raised in 25 years. “At the end of the tour we will decide what our next step will be, and if we’ll have a proposal for the General Assembly or not,” Haslam said.
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Some of the local road projects that were brought up have been on the drawing board for years. Those include extending Highway 374 from south of Highway 79 continuing along Highway 149 and Highway 48/13 including a new bridge across the Cumberland River. Improvements to Trenton Road and Warfield Boulevard were also mentioned.