Mobility Plan 2045 Adopted

Mobility Plan 2045 guides transportation investments in the region for the next 25 years, allowing federal money to be received for transportation projects and ensuring that the best long-term decisions are made for residents, employers, and visitors.

It is updated every four years to account for changes in community and regional priorities, technology, project costs, and available funding. The plan explores current conditions and determines expectations for growth and infrastructure needs in the future. It tries to determine the best ways to continue building prosperity and maintaining a high quality of life for everyone in the region. The goals of the plan are:

• Make the transportation system safer and more efficient;
• Reduce air pollution and improve the health of residents;
• Improve links among transportation modes, infrastructure, and development; and
• Address equal access to benefits and opportunities.

Last fall, local jurisdictions submitted applications for all potential projects to be included in the plan. To determine which projects to fund and when, the TPO considered the year of expenditure cost, project scoring, funding eligibility, and local priority. Projects were selected and prioritized after consideration of both technical analysis and input from residents, stakeholders, and elected and appointed officials. The result is the funding of 134 roadway, bicycle, pedestrian, and transit projects, totaling $4.5 billion, over the next 25 years. The final plan is fiscally constrained, meaning that the cost of all included projects does not exceed the available funding.

In addition to the plan, the Air Quality Conformity Report was also adopted. This report demonstrates that the projects within Mobility Plan 2045 conform to the requirements of the Clean Air Act and that federal funds are not spent on projects that violate, increase the frequency or severity of, or delay timely attainments of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

The final documents are available at knoxmobility.org.