JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — The Tennessee General Assembly passed Gov. Bill Lee’s plan for improving roads and reducing traffic across the state.
The bill, named the Transportation Modernization Act, would add “choice lanes” in urban areas. These lanes would be available to drivers who choose to pay to drive on them.
Rep. Tim Hicks (R-Gray) is on the House Transportation Committee and believes the bill will greatly benefit Northeast Tennessee.
He said in the past, local gas tax money would be used by bigger cities to improve their roads.
“This bill lets them pay for their own roads and we can have our gas money back and for our roads in Northeast Tennessee,” Hicks said. “That’s the good part about this bill.”
This is money that local officials say the area needs.
“We’ve got to do something,” said Glenn Berry, manager of the Johnson City Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization. “There are delays. There are crashes. There are backups on the interstate almost all of the time.”
Now that the bill has passed through the General Assembly, it will go to Gov. Lee to be signed into law.
