NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Whoever wins the race for Tennessee governor in November will walk into a road funding problem that keeps getting bigger, with the Tennessee Department of Transportation counting $58 billion in road projects that have no money behind them.
The state transportation chief, TDOT Commissioner Will Reid, has warned that Tennessee cannot count on its pay-as-you-go system, which avoids borrowing for roads, to cover future work. Tennessee is one of six states with that kind of restriction on debt for road construction.
A recent report from the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations put numbers on the shortfall. The state needs about $3.6 billion a year for highway operations, maintenance and improvements but brings in roughly $3.2 billion, leaving a gap of around $400 million.
The long-range outlook is worse. The commission projects yearly road construction costs near $7.8 billion by 2055, and with gas tax collections unlikely to keep up, the annual deficit could approach $4 billion. More fuel-efficient cars mean drivers buy less gas, and construction costs keep climbing.
The report laid out three main paths for lawmakers: raise existing fuel taxes, create a new tax, or lift the ban on borrowing for some road projects.
Tennessee last raised its fuel taxes in 2017, by 30 percent, under the IMPROVE Act. Gov. Bill Lee later secured the Transportation Modernization Act in 2023, which opened the door to toll lanes and set aside about $3 billion in one-time money for roads, and his administration shifted $1.7 billion more in one-time transfers to roads without seeking a tax hike or borrowing. Fewer than half of the 962 projects in the IMPROVE Act are finished or under construction nine years later.
Lee is term-limited. Four candidates are polling above 1 percent to replace him: Republican nominee Marsha Blackburn, Democratic nominee Jerri Green and independents David Hatley and Lauren Pinkston. Ideas raised in the race include taxing legal marijuana, limited bonds for long-lasting projects, impact fees on large developments and audits of TDOT spending.
The governor has traditionally led any push for new road money, so the next administration is likely to shape how the legislature handles the issue when it returns in January.
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Filed under: Nashville TN Politics News
