Folks showed up to hear about a problem that right now does not have a solution.
Tennessee roads are funded by money from the gas tax. But as the group heard, that is not enough.
"Our bas tax was last increased in 1989," legislative research analyst Susan Mattsoon said.
The meetings are being held to get an idea of how folks feel the problem should be handled.
For a Tuesday morning meeting with very little advance publicity, the size of the audience showed how important the issue is.
For Brenda Fuller, the idea of raising the gas tax bugs the heck out of her.
"They keep wanting to raise taxes, but they're not spending the money that they have now efficiently," Fuller said.
Some said forget all the road construction and try something different.
"Well there's a number of options we need to consider. We need to have transportation systems that serve all the people and not just the people with cars," Dennis Lynch of the Sierra Club said.
The meeting ended with not a solution in sight.
As for if there is the will for a gas tax increase out there?
"Don't think we're there yet. I think we'll talk to more citizens across the state," State Senator Jim Tracy said.
Read the rest here...
Here's the truth of the matter. SIX HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS!!!! Remember that number when someone tries to sell you that line about "but we haven't had a gas tax increase in over 20 years".
The funds that are supposed to be used to repair roads and bridges are often times being diverted to "green projects" like bike lanes, and other non-automobile related causes sometimes to the tune of 40%. The money is there to repair roads and bridges but is wasted on bureaucratic bloat and green utopian ideas of a world with more people biking than driving.
Question: If Tennessee can't fix our roads and bridges with SIX HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS, what makes anybody think they can do it with more?