Tennessee Dept. of Transportation (TDOT) continues to think backwards. I went to a public meeting Monday about a "Corridor Study" TDOT is doing of the I-81/I-40 corridor. TDOT is trying to determine how to improve the movement of goods and people from Bristol to Memphis. This is especially about freight traffic and whether and/or how to move freight from the interstate to rail.

We learned that they are doing NO analysis of the environmental effects of any of the alternatives. They think that environmental effects will only be considered AFTER they make recommendations about what projects to pursue.

They think in terms of dozens of finite and discrete parts of the 550 mile corridor (i.e., the 15 miles east of the I-81/I-40 split) and not in terms of the entire system.

That is bad enough, but to make decisions about whether to support freight rail improvements and if so, which ones, BEFORE considering the effects of the options on, for instance, air quality is backwards and not in the public's interest.

They also seem entirely unable to consider things like whether anyone can find and afford motor fuel in the future. Or whether the location of "development" (residential, industrial, and commercial) can be influenced by where the roads go.

The TDOT people and the consultants they hire are stuck in old and irrelevant system of transportation planning rules, and it will take public outcry and active engagement at the level of the regional transportation planning organizations (TPOs) to change it. Currently, the TPOs rock along doing what they think local officials want (county commissions, city councils, mayors, etc.)

But in Blount County, nobody on county commission plays a role in or knows anything about what the Knoxville area TPO does. And there are some 15 different and independent TPOs in the path of the I-81/I-40 corridor.

Is it any wonder that The Pavers dictate the plans?

The Knoxville Regional TPO is going to begin a long range planning process in May. Be on the lookout and be ready to participate. Or we will get more of the same.