TN Infrastructure Alliance Stops in Knox County
On 95 County “Truck Tour”
Tour highlights importance of maintaining and adequately funding infrastructure for long term vitality of our counties
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
12/18/2009
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Susie Alcorn, TIA (615) 418-9931
info@TNinfra.org
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – TN Infrastructure Alliance (TIA) recently completed a statewide, 95 county “Truck Tour” to raise awareness and support for Tennessee’s infrastructure needs. TIA stopped in Knox County to highlight the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations’ (TACIR) report: “Building Tennessee’s Tomorrow: Anticipating the State’s Infrastructure Needs.”
“A sound transportation infrastructure is important to commerce and economic development,” said Mike Edwards, president and CEO of the Knoxville Chamber. “For too long maintenance and construction projects have been put on hold and that has cost business and put the traveling public at risk. We must invest in the future and strengthen our infrastructure now – that investment will pay tremendous dividends down the road.”
In Knox County, 440 projects were reported that still require funding. Those projects come at an estimated total investment of $ 2,424,616,356. Projects can include infrastructure needs such as transportation networks, stormwater control, public school buildings, drinking water and sewer systems.
The TACIR report, “Building Tennessee’s Tomorrow: Anticipating the State’s
Infrastructure Needs,” is the seventh in a series on infrastructure that began in the late 1990s. Released in September, the report highlights statewide infrastructure needs from July 2007 through June 2012, and puts a price tag for addressing those needs at a total of $34.2 billion.
This represents an increase of $5.9 billion, or 21%, since the previous inventory— this figure includes the cost of upgrading existing public schools to good condition.
Specifically, TACIR shows Knox County infrastructure needs to include:
• 99 Transportation projects in need of $ 648,236,568
• 136 Non K-12 education projects in need of $ 1,083,497,927
• 82 improvement projects at existing schools in need of $ 129,644,817
• 7 K-12 new school construction projects in need of $ 104,918,500
• 13 school system-wide need projects totaling $ 19,553,105
• 47 water and wastewater projects totaling $ 194,485,524
“Infrastructure is the very foundation of society, and its development and maintenance is one of the primary responsibilities of government,” said Pete DeLay, TIA Chairman. “Without basic infrastructure services – drinking water, sewer systems, flood control, a transportation network – the delivery of other services, such as education and health care, fire and police protection, are impossible.”
Total infrastructure needs reported increased 21% since the last report, partly because of more complete reporting on bridge improvement needs.
In the wake of the bridge collapse in Minneapolis in 2007, TACIR took a closer look at the information maintained by Tennessee’s Department of Transportation about bridge needs in the state and discovered that we had not been gathering all of it into the public infrastructure needs inventory. Consequently, this latest inventory includes nearly $660 million of bridge improvements that were not captured in earlier inventories.
“Adequate infrastructure means jobs for Tennessee’s communities,” said DeLay. “It is the key to economic growth & development. Without available infrastructure, public health and safety and our quality of life are jeopardized. We cannot ignore this growing problem.”
The Tennessee Infrastructure Alliance (TIA) is Tennessee's advocate for adequate infrastructure. By educating policy makers on the needs of the future, TIA helps Tennessee's communities plan to accommodate growth and promote commerce and safety.
To learn more about TIA visit http://www.tninfrastructure.org/
To obtain photographs from TIA’s stop in Knox County contact TIA at: 615-418-9931 or send an email info@tninfra.org
To read the full TACIR report visit: http://www.state.tn.us/tacir/PDF_FILES/Infrastructure/Sept09/Infrastructure_Sept09.pdf
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