Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Lawrence Road And Bridge Projects Included In Funding Proposal

Governor Phil Bredesen has released a final list of projects to be funded with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds (Recovery Act), proposed bridge bonds and TDOT’s regular funding mechanisms. The three-tiered program represents more than 450 projects statewide touching every county in Tennessee. Included in the proposal, which has been presented to the Legislature, are 122 highway and bridge projects in TDOT’s Region Three alone. Eight of those projects lie within Lawrence County.

“The Recovery Act is fundamentally about creating and retaining jobs during one of the toughest economic times our nation and state have faced since the Great Depression,” said Governor Bredesen. “This three-tiered program represents a record investment in Tennessee’s transportation system. The Recovery Act, along with the bridge bonding and TDOT’s regular program, will put thousands of Tennesseans to work rebuilding and strengthening one of Tennessee’s largest economic drivers, our transportation system.”

TDOT’s Region Three includes Bedford, Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Giles, Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Macon, Marshall, Maury, Montgomery, Moore, Perry, Robertson, Rutherford, Smith, Stewart, Sumner, Trousdale, Wayne, Williamson and Wilson counties.

“Not only will these transportation projects help create or save tens of thousands of jobs for Tennesseans, the end result of this investment will be a more reliable transportation system,” said TDOT Commissioner Gerald Nicely. “This three-tiered program represents a responsible, balanced and community based approach to transportation. Years of planning and study have gone into each of the projects funded for construction.”

50 projects in TDOT’s Region 3 will be funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, including a project to construct a Bypass around Shelbyville which has received strong support from state and local leaders. Tennessee received $572 million in Recovery Act funds. $85.8 million were distributed directly to the state’s eleven Metropolitan Planning Organizations and the City of Murfreesboro leaving $486.2 million for distribution by TDOT.

Another 45 bridge repair or replacement projects in Region Three are funded through bridge bonds and another 27 projects are funded through TDOT’s traditional Three-Year Multimodal Work Program.

The Legislature is currently considering the transportation budget for approval. TDOT will let to contract all Recovery Act projects in May and June of 2009. Funding is slated to be included in the state budget during fiscal years 2010 through 2012.

Lawrence County projects include the following:

*Resurfacing of five miles of U.S. Highway 43, between Busby Road and Leoma.

*Rehabilitation of Shoal Creek bridge on U.S. Highway 64.

*Rehabilitation of Crowson Creek bridge on U.S. Highway 64.

*Paving of 6.5 miles of Lawrenceburg Bypass (U.S. Highway 64), from Miller Lane, east.

*Rehabilitation of Knob Creek bridge on State Route 242.

*Replacement of Long Branch bridge on Long Branch Road.

*Replacement of Piney Branch bridge on Piney Road.

.

.