The Tennessee Department of Transportation recently received $400 million in dedicated funding from the state’s fiscal year 2027 budget to support vital infrastructure improvements.
[Above photo by Tennessee DOT]
Those non-recurring dollars will support key investments in maintenance of existing assets and allow Tennessee DOT to accelerate, leverage, and add new capacity-adding projects as part of its 10-year plan – specifically for state-of-good-repair projects, as well as critical bridge investments and additional capacity-adding projects.
Those funds are in addition to the $4 billion in historic investments and contracting authority granted to the agency by the General Assembly over the past three years.
“As Tennessee continues to grow, we remain focused on modernizing infrastructure to move commerce and commuters across our state,” said Governor Bill Lee (R) in a statement. “I thank the General Assembly for delivering significant funding to support Tennessee DOT’s 10-year plan and update current assets, all without raising taxes or new debt.”
He added that those additional General Fund dollars increase the agency’s ability to deliver a higher level of service across Tennessee while modernizing the state’s transportation network.
Tennessee DOT is allocating that $400 million in one-time, non-recurring funding as follows: $50 million for maintenance; $150 million for the agency’s Bridge Preservation Program, supporting 50 locally owned bridge replacement projects; and $200 million for capacity-adding projects.
The agency added that its updated 10-year plan contains 93 site-specific projects, including 22 projects added for 2026 – six of which are made possible through partnership with local government agencies via Tennessee DOT’s Statewide Partnership Program. Since the advent of the 10-year plan in FY 2024, the agency said it has delivered 48 capacity-adding projects across rural, suburban, and urban communities, totaling $2.73 billion of investment.
“This 10-year plan shows that we’re keeping our promise of what gets started, gets finished,” stressed Will Reid, commissioner of the Tennessee DOT. “We will continue to accelerate projects, improve safety, and prepare Tennessee’s transportation system for the future, thanks to Governor Lee and this General Assembly’s unprecedented investments in transportation.”
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