Paving paradise?
It was the great American humorist Will Rogers who, in the 1930s, predicted America "would be the first nation in the history of the world to go the poorhouse in an automobile." And today it appears most of us will do it on gas over $3.50 per gallon.
Tuesday morning, hundreds of people gathered at Battle Ground Academy for the second of three Franklin Tomorrow Breakfasts with the Mayors, presented by First Farmers Bank and a host of other sponsors. The draw? Maybe it was the great sausage gravy by Cool Cafe, but I have to believe it was Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner John Schroer.
Settling in after six months as commissioner after 2 1/2 years as Franklin's mayor, Schroer admits his constituency is different. "Used to have to appeal to a the voters once every four years, but today, I only have one voter (Gov. Bill Haslam) and I have to make him happy every day."
He admitted he didn't know a "doggone" thing about being the commissioner when he was selected by Haslam and that he has learned a lot, both about the financial aspects of building roads, but also about the future of transportation.
"We cannot continue to pave this country," Schroer said as he discussed multi-modal transportation and balancing it with the great love Tennesseans have for their individual vehicles.
TDOT has a $1.82 billion annual budget and not one penny comes from the general fund, Schroer said. Tennessee's highway department is funded through taxes on petroleum products and he pointed out the last increase in those taxes was in 1989.
He favors treating transportation more like a utility, basing payment on vehicles miles traveled. "You pay for what you use. Transportation can be almost like a utility and you can pay for what you use."
Franklin Mayor Dr. Ken Moore outlined the litany of improvements under way in the city, but said there is always more to do than can be funded. When asked what was the most important unfunded road improvement in the city, Moore pointed to Mack Hatcher Bypass, both its extension to complete the western loop and its widening to four lanes.
Schroer said the northwest extension of Mack Hatcher is not in TDOT's current funding plan because it is their policy not to include projects until all right of way has been acquired and Franklin officials still have seven more parcels to acquire through condemnation or purchase.
County Mayor Rogers Anderson labeled the continued widening of Interstate 65 south of Franklin to State Route 840 or the county line as the most important unfunded mandate. Widening the interstate to State Route 840 — which will open its fully completed, 78-mile loop of Nashville in 2012 — will fully utilize that road's potential for creating new job markets and employee centers. Widening of Interstate 65 to Goose Creek and reconstruction of that interchange are on TDOT's improvement plan, so maybe there is some relief in sight.
So what will it take to get us out of our cars and into various forms of mass transportation? There was no clear cut answer, but apparently some of us are breaking the cycle, with ridership TDOT's new "Relax and Ride" express bus service from Franklin to Nashville up more than 70 percent over the same period last year. The Transportation Management Association of Franklin manages the regional vanpool network, with more than 80 vans carrying 10-12 passengers daily throughout the region and a waiting list of dozens more.
Since beginning his daily commute into Nashville, Schroer said he has noticed what seems just as many cars commuting into Williamson County as out of it. He has also noticed, even before he was TDOT commissioner, a new sense of regionalism to solving transportation issues since all roads lead to somewhere and often it is out of one elected official's jurisdiction into another official's land.
Schroer also spoke of "smart planning," putting development in the location best to access infrastructure already in place rather than building it and waiting for infrastructure to come. But again that often takes cooperation among aspects of local government, such as increased communication about location of public facilities like schools and other high-traffic facilities.
Mindy Tate is executive director of Franklin Tomorrow, a non-profit community visioning agency serving Franklin and Williamson County for 10 years. She may be contacted at mindy@franklintomorrow.org.