State officials have selected a vendor to construct new, elevated toll lanes on Interstate 24 and say their pick will disturb surrounding neighborhoods and businesses less than previously expected. The vendor will pay the state $24.8 billion in concessions over 50 years.
Members of Tennessee’s Transportation Modernization board considered four bids from potential vendors analyzed by the Tennessee Department of Transportation for the project during their meeting Aug. 19. They voted to partner with DriveTN, a consortium of six companies, to construct, operate and maintain the toll lanes.
The group will build new, in some places elevated, lanes of traffic along I-24 between Nashville and Murfreesboro, which drivers can pay a fee to use. All existing
lanes of traffic will remain free of charge.
DriveTN expects construction costs to total $9.2 billion, which will be entirely privately funded.
"Today is the beginning of a new era for infrastructure in Tennessee," Gov. Bill Lee told board members at the start of their meeting. "I want to underscore the magnitude of this for Tennessee. What we're discussing today will be America's largest and most valuable interstate choice lane project."
Tennessee has an estimated $58 billion in unfunded road projects that the state's current no-debt road funding model cannot sustain. Authorized by the Transportation Modernization Act of 2023, the choice lanes project allows the state to accept bids from private groups to finance, construct and maintain state-owned roads that the state could not otherwise afford.
“Our annual budget at TDOT for heavy construction is $1.3 billion dollars a year over 95 counties. This one project — 26 miles — is $9 billion," TDOT Commissioner Will Reid said.
“We would never be able to afford this project — and address congestion for the Tennesseans that deserve it — without a model that leveraged private sector capital and the ability to innovate,” Reid said.
A timeline for the project is still being finalized. TDOT hopes to close on the project by early- to mid-2027, and construction will immediately follow. Construction is projected to take a total of eight years but will be done in phases to allow for immediate use of new lanes, TDOT projects coordinator Brian Ledford said.
DriveTN will then be responsible for operating and maintaining the toll lanes for the next 50 years.
In exchange for the privilege, DriveTN will pay the state $24.8 billion in concessions over the life of the 50 year partnership.
TDOT recommended DriveTN as the best value solution for the state not only for financial advantage, but because TDOT officials said the group’s proposal had the best design and avoided disturbing surrounding areas. DriveTN is made up of six companies: Cintra, Transurban, Tikehau Star/Infra/Capital, Ferrovial, AECOM and Webber.
Board members also voted to consider three possible toll lane extensions in the future, giving DriveTN the first opportunity to bid on those projects if the state opts to move forward with them:
- Northward expansion on I-24 and I-65 through downtown Nashville toward Clarksville
- Eastern expansion along I-40 past the Nashville International Airport
- Southern expansion along I-24 through Murfreesboro and also along I-840 toward U.S. 41
Residents ask for better communication from TDOT
During the public comment period, several residents of Nashville's Glencliff neighborhood asked for more and better communication with TDOT about how exactly houses and businesses along the interstate corridor will be impacted. They also asked board members for fair compensation for their property — which they are not looking to sell.
TDOT does not yet have an exact number of how many residences will be demolished for construction, Reid said.
“I’m a retiree. If I’d known I was going to have to put up with 10 years of this, I wouldn’t have bought the house," Glencliff resident Gerald Stankevitch said.
Nashville Democratic Rep. John Ray Clemmons, whose district includes the I-24 corridor, said the project is an example of the state choosing a winner who will "profit off the backs of Tennessee's working families."
“Families and neighborhoods along the entire I-24 corridor in Davidson County ... overwhelmingly oppose this project,” Clemmons said. “This includes the small business owners whose property you're going to take, the homeowners whose homes you're going to tear down ... and the neighborhoods through which all the cars are going to detour to avoid construction and tolls in the future."
Nashville Council Member Joy Styles thanked commissioners for finding a solution that avoided the brand new Pan Asia Market development in Antioch.
"These proposals are going to not only allow for us to invest in major infrastructure in this state, but to have significant revenue to invest in the future of Tennessee," Lee told reporters earlier Aug. 19.
“We are very excited," Lee said. "It’s only the beginning.”
More public engagement coming
Want to weigh in? TDOT will host two open house community meetings next month where residents can get questions answered. Both meetings will include the same information.
- 12:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 8 at the Nashville Public Library Pruitt Branch
- 12:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 9 at the Smyrna Event Center
Vivian Jones covers state government and politics for The Tennessean. Reach her at vjones@tennessean.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: I-24 toll lanes vendor pledges $24.8B toward TN roads over 50 years
