Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
It's Tennessee Matters on the Tennessee RadioNetwork. Welcome to Tennessee Matters. I'm
John Clark from the Tennessee Radio Network. The Tennessee Department of Transportation is the
state department of transportation for the stateof Tennessee, with multi model responsibilities in
(00:22):
roadways, aviation, public transit,waterways, and railroads. It was established
in nineteen fifteen as the Tennessee Departmentof Highways and Public Works. The core
agency mission for the Tennessee Department ofTransportation is to provide safe and reliable transportation
system for people, goods, andservices across Tennessee. Since nineteen ninety eight,
(00:44):
t DOT has been ranked among thetop five in the nation for quality
highway infrastructure. Today, we're goingto talk about the Tennessee Department of Transportation.
Our guest is Butch E. Lee. He's a Deputy Governor and commissioner
of the Tennessee Department of Transferation.First of all, I want to learn
about you be deputy governor. Yeah, So let me just say John,
(01:08):
it's great to be here. Appreciatethe opportunity to be here with you today
and just to talk about UH transportationand what's going on in Tennessee and all
all the good things that are goingon. And so, you know,
(01:29):
I had a business similar of governorsyears ago and we were friends and he
connected and said, hey, I'mthinking about running for governor. I'm like,
I'm not really sure about that,but if you want to do it,
(01:49):
I think you're the exactly kind ofperson in need. And so I
started helping. So, uh whenwhen he got elected, he said,
let's let's come over here and dosomething good. And so I first started
out in the chief operator role andas we've moved forward, uh fast forward
(02:15):
to today, transportation is what I'mconcentrated on. But he said, look,
still wants you to fill this roleas as governor and so uh So
it just gives uh the possibility ofa broader view is really all that is.
(02:39):
And so uh so I'm glad tobe here. Do you have situations
where you're working this is d OT Commissioned, I said, I got
to stop and do my deputy governess. There's all there's always that pressure,
but you know, I mean thecommissioner of t DOT is you know,
(03:07):
the responsibility. Uh, And itjust allows me to be able to be
in the room okay, just tokind of be in the room and to
know what's going on. And wegot great people in all these other areas.
Yeah, it's just extra ear extraboys. Well, t dot's a
(03:32):
big enough job. And certainly youcovered doing that. Talk about the latest
with t DOT in terms of thethe in terms of just start out talking
about t DOT, tell us whatyou're doing, you're doing so far,
do so many things, you know, you know, it has a great
(03:53):
history. One of the apartments hasbeen around a long time. Really kind
of originally started, you know,back in nineteen fifteen and originally was a
(04:15):
Department of Highways, And of coursewe've gone so far since then because transportation
is so much more than roads today, right, I mean, and so
I'm very much interested in multimodival,making sure that we're looking at transit.
(04:42):
We're looking at trains. We've supportedour proposals that are out there to try
to look at more long term trainservice in Tennessee. And so we're looking
at everything that we can do toget people moving faster and people moving safe
(05:12):
throughout the state of Tennessee. AndI will add to that freight, Yeah,
because the I forty, the Iforty cor and in north and south
as well, is critical to theeconomic success of our country. And so
(05:36):
being able to look at how weare moving products and services in the economy
east west and north and south throughTennessee because it's critical in place in the
country is very important. We werejust talking a few minutes ago before you
(05:59):
came in about the bridge right here, and the bridge is Tennessee Department of
Transportation to the Bridge project. AndI watched them build this thing. And
now it's so that it's now it'sbigger, so that the trains can go
under it. And so that's aninteresting thing because we all know the trains
(06:23):
were here before, right right,and so that's the reason that we had
to build this to accommodate the trainsin a way that made sense. And
so but this is part of theoriginal Highway one okay right here right nash
(06:46):
and and so uh, you know, we we went from from Memphis all
the way up to eastern See onthis shows lay for years and so it's
a very important vital Coga will theentire history of Tennessee. And if you
(07:16):
think about I meant I won't gettoo much into the OA. But if
you think about the connection in Tennesseebetween the Memphis blues Appalachia and then sitting
here where we are right in theheartbeat of country music and not just country
(07:43):
music but all genres in Nashville.It really really brings together where we are
in Tennessee and in Nashville. Yeah, and you know, it's funny you
mentioned it Tennis started in nineteen fifteen. Was that you said this, Think
about that you know out there outthere then you know that the dirt roads,
(08:09):
a lot of dirt roads out therethen. But now I've come together
a lot of dirt roads, andI think I think looking at the history
is important. Learning for my historyhas important. The really thing that started
kind of capturing where we are nowwas the interstate system started in nineteen fifty
(08:37):
six and our first interstate that wascompleted east and west was from Memphis to
here in nineteen sixty six and soand we've expanded out from there over the
years. And so the interstate systemwas a pivotal moment in the US history
(09:07):
in circle to see, and sowe're going to continue to That's a big
part of what we're about now ishow do we think about the future,
What are we doing. We knowthat a lot of that existing infrastructure that
was built back in the sixties andthe seventies is now fifty sixty, seventy
(09:35):
years old, and so how dowe how do we apply that, what
do we do about it to makesure that we're looking to the next generation?
What are you doing now with that? In moving forward? Yeah,
so there's a lot moving forward.And it's amazing kind of a what a
(09:58):
year's different can may because I thinkabout the fact that a year ago this
time period, the governor was crisscrossingthe state with me talking to people about
the importance of transportation and infrastructure Tennessee. And so what we what we landed
(10:26):
on was kind of a landmark pieceof legislation, which was the Transportation Modernization
Act that was passed last year thatreally brought us into the next century,
I would say, in impruvements totransportation Tennessee. And everybody that is traveling
(10:52):
Tennessee knows that a lot of ouroriginal two lanes that enters days throughout the
state, both urban and rule,need to be expanded to three or more
lanes. And that's part with us. Okay, okay, okay, just
(11:13):
does that is that in the allall the state or just part of the
state with themsell. So it'll whatwhat what we did? The Transportation Modernization
Act did three basic things real quickly. One did allows us to do public
private partnership for the first time forroads in Tennessee, which allows us to
(11:39):
be able to partner with a privatesector to be able to design, build,
finance, and operate a roadway thatallows people to choose to get in
that roadway to be able to getto where they're going faster. All the
(12:00):
lanes that are there now will staythere, will have the same general purpose
lanes, but we'll be adding anotheroptions for Tennessee ins and other people to
build to get in that lane.That's number one. Number two is allows
us to do more faster. Oneof the things that we've had difficulty with
(12:24):
over the years how long it takesus to build the Tennessee And so this
allows us alternative delivery design, build, progressive design, build just techniques that
allow us to do things faster.And then the third thing is being able
(12:46):
to get parody between electric vehicles andgas vehicles. Right and you know,
we know that more electric vehicles arecoming and right now, if you look
at our gas tacks, both onthe state level on the federal level,
(13:09):
it's just not sustainable with the growththat we're having and to see to be
able to provide what we need todo to keep up with what's going on
now. So that was kind ofauthority element that was there, but but
(13:31):
we're we're now very focused on thefuture and what we need to be doing
and making sure that we're preparing forthe next general that that that would move
most a lot of trucks on throughthere too, getting and absolutely, I
mean part of part of what we'redoing is we're going to be doing in
(13:58):
urban area project in each region.We've got four regions in Tennessee. We
would call it East, Upper EastEast like Chattanooga upward, Middle Tennessee,
and then kind of from the TennesseeRiver west including Memphis. And we're doing
(14:24):
a major orland project in each ofthose areas, and we're doing a major
rural project in each of those areaswhich will expand that three lane to the
interstate. And so it is allover Tennessee that we'll be seeing improvements throughout
(14:46):
that'll be that'll be tremendous for truckswell in a couple of those. I
mean we'll be uh kind of inthe uh in the cross area. Uh
upon the plateau, we're doing atruck lane. Okay, that will expand
(15:11):
out forty coming up to be ableto uh, to be able to get
trucks up that moneray Mouth faster.What about the scenic highways? Those are
popular now and people like like likeriding them, and they they where they
stayed, the scenic highways stayed thesame pretty much be the same. Yeah,
(15:37):
well that's that's ataly. Uh.It's our goal. And you know,
Tennessee is one of the most beautifulstates. Yeah, I mean,
we've got such beautiful landscape and wehave everything from what we have in in
(16:02):
Memphis all the way up to upperUpper East in brisk Mountain City. And
so there's so many scenic roads throughoutTennessee. And our state has ten roads
that have earned the special designation onthe federal level to be America's Byways pro
(16:33):
and so that's very important to us. We take that very seriously, and
we're going to continue to develop thatas we go and to make sure that
these roads stay as beautiful for futuregenerations as they are. And I know
(16:56):
that this month you have this needfor safety on the roads and getting out
and just noticing while you're riding around, just you notice the people on the
roads. Just be careful of them. And I know you want to put
an emphasis on that being safe aroundon the roads for anybody working on the
(17:18):
road, not just employees. ButI know you can put safety into safety
is an issue. Thank you.Thank you for bringing it up, John,
because it is becoming more and moredangerous out there on the road every
day, and we've got hundreds overa thousand people out there every day risking
(17:48):
their lives to make things safe.All of us, yeah, traverse our
roadways every day. So this week, thank you for bringing that up,
is National work Zone Safety Awareness Week, and so we're really doing this on
(18:10):
a national level. But what we'rereally it's a very it's a very simple
message. As we're going through allthis construction around town and around the state,
looking and slowing down through these workzones and moving over so that we're
(18:38):
moving away from these workers. We'vehad twenty nine of our vehicles hit just
in the last few months, andhundreds of accidents in work zones throughout the
(18:59):
state, and so it's a it'sa serious problem. You our our listeners
can hear it. Uh. I'vegot a little badge on until it says
one thirteen one thirteen stance for allof our people at Teita who have lost
(19:25):
their lot really over over the lastyears. UH in working on the roadway
as part of that, and sowe want these people to get home safe.
They need to get home to theirkids safe. And so it's very
(19:45):
important that we continue to think aboutUH. Our people on the roadway is
throughout there. I noticed now andI do I do. I do move
over all the time. And Imean the police cars, ambulance whoever,
no matter who they are dealt andI see people doing it, but that
(20:06):
you always see one that won't doit. So it seems like a simple
thing. Yeah, but it's itis the word which I'm thankful for your
day to bring that up because themore people recognize it and think about the
pen we are. But to that, I want to talk about the litter
(20:29):
program. Uh. You know you'reyou're out there cleaning them up too,
and that's that's one reason they're outthere that they're cleaning up. Talk about
the litter program. I know litterwas a big problem here a couple of
years ago, and now is it? Is it better now? Well?
It uh you know to me whenyou think about beautification, Yeah, we
(20:56):
need a roads to be clean andit's a very important thing to me.
We have increased what we're doing aroundlitter throughout the state, each each of
our regions throughout the state, we'reputting more emphasis on addressing litter. We
(21:22):
want to keep bringing people to Tennessee, which right now, everybody wants to
come this, We love that,but they need to have an experience that
is positible in having a clean roadsystem is part of it. And so
(21:51):
we're emphasizing that. We've got programsthat everybody can participate in from the adopt
a Highway sponsorial Highway you can youcan go on our t dot website and
learn more about that, because thisis something that not only I mean we
(22:15):
do as part of what we doevery day with t DOT, but it's
also something that private corporations can participatewhen they're adopting a highway or roadway,
and it makes makes a big differencefor what people see when they come intotency.
Is that adopted highway, that programwhere they adopt business can adopted program
(22:41):
or whoever you Yeah, that's right, that's right. And so both of
those are similar. One is isvolunteer work in adopting, in doing some
of that work themselves, the sponsorsbeing able to actually put some dollars in
(23:02):
into the program, uh, tobe able to supplement what we're trying to
do. Now, I have toask you about Chattanooga. It's not just
me, everybody. Everybody always sayswhat is going on in Chattanooga? And
(23:22):
so I have to drive it justlater as today and I'm expecting to slow
down. Why they why we haveto slow down? There's there's a couple
of interstriates going through, there's amountain there, and there's a lot going
on. Any ideas well, you'redoing my job that we do it.
(23:48):
We do have a couple of majormountains. So yeah, we're cutting the
mountain. Yeah there and and andwe've got our Sidney five and I come
together at the at the same location. And so it is. We have
done congestion studies in all four ofour major urban areas, Memphis, Chattanoogat,
(24:15):
Nashville, and Knoxville, as wellas up Upper East as well we've
got congestion all of right, Andwhat we have found is that we've got
congestion issues, as you're pointing out, in each of those areas that need
(24:40):
to be addressed. And so that'sreally the purpose behind and why the governor
introduced and why thankful to the legislaturethey put an additional three point three million
dollars of our funds into addressing theseissues. And chattanoogah uh is one of
(25:07):
them. Good in the areas thatyou're talking about, we're looking for solutions.
We're working trying to speed up someof the solutions that we can bring
to it. It wasn't as badcoming up the other day. It was
cruise going through. It's gonna bebe tough to this afternoon. Sometimes it's
(25:33):
okay, yeah, but yeah,but by the way, by the way,
I have family there, okay,three yeah, okay, kids,
and so I traveled back, doyou know it myself? Okay? And
uh so I certainly appreciate your yeah. Yeah, well good. I'm glad
(25:57):
to know that help is coming forChattanooga. Chattanooga helps coming. In the
last few minutes that we have anythingelse to talk about, is you want
to talk about to the people ofTennessee and tell them about the things you
are some more other things that you'redoing well. I would say that really
(26:22):
what we're trying to do is toprepare for the future because we've had a
great We've had a great history inTennessee. Our roads are some of the
best in the country literally, andour mentality has been, so let's maintain
(26:45):
what we have. Let's take careof what we have first, and so
we have done that. But whatthe challenge is with all the great things
that are happening in Tennessee today,with opportunity comes challenges, right, and
those challenges are, how are wegoing to be able to maintain these roads
(27:10):
at the same level. Every fewyears we get something like a snowstorm that
we had this year, which isunusual at the extreme that it was,
but it creates a lot of pottlesand that's not a normal thing that we
(27:33):
deal with in Tennessee on an ongoingbasis like they do up north, and
so we don't have the funding andthe equipment to be able to do that
it's quickly. And so our people, though, have responded and done great.
We're going to be I just appromedrecently additional dollars to go into our
(28:04):
paving program to speed up how we'regoing to be dealing with some of these
potholes. And so I think themain thing that I want to leave is
that we're we're working every day andtrying to prepare for the future getting Tennessee
(28:27):
in place. We're going to continueto have one of the best road systems
in the whole country. I admitthe roads. You do have great roads,
You have good reat Yes, yeah, when you compare around the country.
We've been very fortunate in our governorsand legislatures that work closely together to
(28:51):
make sure that we are providing thefunds necessary to keep them in good check.
Well, thank you so much fortaking time to be here today and
come in and talk. And Ireally appreciate you being on the should today.
Thank you. I love to behere. Thank you. You can
come back anytime, come back,come back. Thank you. That's Butch
(29:12):
E. Lee, Deputy Governor andCommissioner of the Tennessee Department of Transportation.
To find out more about the DepartmentTransportation, visit tn dot gov slash t
dot. Use that site to lookat traffic conditions Tracker project find seeing it
roadways, find traveler information and more. If you have questions or comments about
(29:32):
today's program, you can always emailme, John Clark at iHeartMedia dot com.
Thanks for listening, I'll talk toyou next week right here in your
local radio station on Tennessee Matters