NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner John Schroer today released TDOT’s annual three year transportation program, featuring approximately $2 billion in infrastructure investments for 79 individual project phases in 42 counties, as well as 15 statewide programs.

Among the proposed projects is a plan to widen US 79/SR 13 from Cracker Barrel Dr. to International Blvd. in Montgomery County. This would serve the new Hankook Tire plant.

The project, among others in different counties, would be funded with the $100 million transfer from the state’s general fund, and would all be under contract before the end of 2016 if approved by the Tennessee General Assembly.

Other potential Montgomery County transportation projects include construction in the following areas:

• Highway 49, from River Road to Highway 13
• Highway 13 and 49 to Zinc Plant Road
• South of Dunbar Cave Road to West of Stokes Road

New federal transportation funding through the FAST Act federal legislation includes a roughly two percent increase for FY 2017 over FY 2016’s funding. The FAST Act also provides some one-time flexibility that allows TDOT to tap into an additional $147 million in federal money.

These increases combined with the $100 million repayment to the highway fund in the Haslam administration’s proposed FY 16-17 budget will give the department a somewhat larger building program in the upcoming fiscal year – an estimated $965 million in FY 2017, compared to $660 million in FY 2016.

Despite the increase in revenue for FY 2017, the department still has a multi-billion dollar backlog of unfunded highway and bridge projects that have been approved by the General Assembly, but lack available funding to move forward.

In addition to the 2017 budgeted program, partial plans for 2018 and 2019 are included, along with funding for 15 transportation programs including Rockfall Mitigation, Spot Safety Improvement, and the statewide HELP Program. The program also provides funding for transit agencies in all 95 counties, as well as Metropolitan and Rural Planning Organizations.