What the federal infrastructure law will fund in our region - WCYB
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — President Biden has signed his bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill into law. A variety of projects in our region are expected to get money but some will be left without funding.
Both Tennessee and Virginia will get $6 to 8 billion each for road and bridge repair projects, plus millions more for rail, airports and a nation-wide electric vehicle charging network.
Sen. Mark Warner said in a video statement Virginia will be able to widen Interstate 81 and more.
“Every home in the valley, Southside and Southwest will have an affordable high-speed internet connection,” Warner said. “and we’re going to increase rail past Roanoke to Christiansburg and Blacksburg and hopefully even on to Bristol.”
His staff didn’t respond when we asked what exactly “hopefully” means.
Tennessee transportation officials said they’ll use the money to accelerate existing projects.
“It’s allowed us to make sure to have those funds secured for these future projects,” TDOT spokesperson Mark Nagi said.
In our region, that includes replacing a bridge on Interstate 26 in Unicoi County, converting Kingsport’s Memorial Boulevard to a four-lane, widening State Route 66 in Hawkins County and more.
But some needs won’t be covered. News 5 found 126 bridges in Northeast Tennessee with a sufficiency rating below 50.
A pair of bridges on Kingsport’s heavily-traveled John B. Dennis Highway are rated 46.5 out of 100. They’re missing the original guardrails, and the concrete is crumbling.
Among the worst is a bridge on Smalling Road in Carter County with a rating of just 17.8. The one-lane bridge is rusted, and exposed metal moves when cars drive across.
“It’s kind of a raggedy bridge, kind of scary,” resident Taylar Aldrich said. “You think that you’re going to fall when you drive over it.”
Despite more than a trillion dollars in funding, no money is coming to local roads. It will all go to the states.
“I think that’s really unfair,” Aldrich said. “If the money is coming for the state of Tennessee, it should go to all counties evenly.”
source: https://wcyb.com/news/local/what-the-federal-infrastructure-law-will-fund-in-our-region
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