4/7/04-A bill that would authorize the building of a $1.5 billion, 300-mile toll road that would wind through the northeastern part of the state has all but ran out of gas.
Rep. Robert Patton, R-Johnson City, introduced legislation that would direct the Tennessee Department of Transportation to build the toll road from Tri-Cities Regional Airport in Blountville to Nashville. The bill, however, died in a House transportation subcommittee early last month.
Under HB3072, the westward toll road would have run parallel to the Kentucky-Tennessee border and then turn toward Nashville. It would have gone through 11 counties.
A similar Senate bill – SB2911 – met a similar fate in the Senate Transportation Committee.