ET, Knox in line to get $110.2M
Road projects, Knox bus transfer station earmarked for fed funds

RICHARD POWELSON
KNOXVILLE NEWS SENTINEL
MARCH 11, 2005

The House on Thursday passed a six-year transportation package that includes nearly $100 million for specific new road projects across East Tennessee and $10.2 million toward a new central bus transfer station in downtown Knoxville.

"This is the biggest job-creating bill we will vote on in this Congress," said Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., a Knoxville Republican and a senior member of the transportation committee that drafted the bill.

Also among the projects slated for Knox County: $6.5 million to widen Western Avenue; $6.5 million to widen state Highway 33 (in north end of county); $1.8 million to expand Campbell Station Road (in Farragut); and $2 million for Gay Street work that aids traffic past a loading dock at the Tennessee Theatre.

Both Mayor Bill Haslam and former Mayor Victor Ashe have supported construction of the indoor bus transfer center as part of a mixed-use facility. The latest estimated cost is $27 million, and planners hoped for 80 percent to come from the federal government.

City spokeswoman Amy Nolan welcomed the news of the House approving more funding. The extra $10.2 million, if also supported later by the Senate, would bring the federal total to date to about $20 million, she said.

"We are excited that this gives us some comfort level as they go into the final design process," she said. "We are still waiting for a final OK on the environmental assessment."

Among other new projects that Duncan announced are: in Blount County, $7.5 million to continue construction of the Foothills Parkway; $1 million for the Tuckaleechee Heritage Museum at Townsend; and $1 million for a pedestrian/bicycle bridge over Alcoa Highway near its split.

In Loudon County, there would be $6.5 million for overpass construction on U.S. Highway 321 and U.S. Highway 11.

In Sevier County, $1.5 million is recommended to improve Chapman Highway in Seymour.

Also, Rep. Bill Jenkins, a Rogersville Republican, has a district that includes part of Sevier and Jefferson counties. He announced the bill has $2 million for work on state Highway 66 in Jefferson and Hamblen counties and $1.75 million for construction on a Sevier County section; and $1.75 million to improve state Highway 35/U.S. Highway 411 in Sevier, Jefferson and Cocke counties.

In the Third District, which wraps partly around Knox County, Rep. Zach Wamp, a Chattanooga Republican, said the bill has $2 million for state Highway 33 widening north of Knox County in Union and Claiborne counties.

For workers driving south to Knox County, they would find the broader road "improving road safety and easing travel," Wamp said.

The states' highway officials have been waiting a year and a half for Congress to pass a new long-term funding bill so they can better schedule larger projects.

Tennessee's transportation commissioner, Gerald Nicely, has estimated the state will receive about $200 million extra annually if Congress completes approval.

What's in it for East Tennessee

$10.2 million - new downtown transfer station

$7.5 million - Foothills Parkway in Blount County

$6.5 million - Loudon County overpass construction

$1.5 million - Chapman Highway work in Sevier County

$1 million - Tuckaleechee Heritage Museum in Townsend