Elizabethton, Johnson City transportation projects receive $1.7M investment from state

NASHVILLE — Three state grants will inject a combined $1.7 million into transportation projects across Northeast Tennessee.Elizabethton received $1.2 million to install a sidewalk along State Route 67. The Johnson City Transit Authority received $360,000 from the state to replace its aging roof, and the First Tennessee Human Resource Agency in Johnson City received $120,822 to upgrade its fleet management system. The grants were announced Monday as part of three programs administered by the Tennessee Department of Transportation to address transit-related issues across the state. This year, $42 million in state and federal dollars will go to cities and organizations across Tennessee. Elizabethton grant The project will add nearly 4,000 feet of sidewalk along the north side of state Route 67, stretching from Sycamore Shoals State Park to just past Elizabethton High School. The route will connect the state park to the high school, hospital and other retail locations, providing a walkway for students and increasing foot traffic for businesses in the area. Currently, there is no pedestrian walkway on the North side of the highway. Logan Ingle, city planning director, said the route will fill that "missing link" in the city's sidewalk system. "We're obviously very excited to hear this news," Ingle said. "We found out last week, and so it was a little bit of an early Christmas present for our staff who have worked really hard on this grant." Ingle said projects like these require permits, approval from city leadership and engineering planning; all factors indicating it will be some time before construction begins. "We hope to get started as soon as we can. But a lot of times these particular grant projects may take 18 to 24 months before the public starts to see something happening," Ingle said. The funds come from the state's Multimodal Access Grant, which funds transit-related infrastructure projects along state routes. This year, Elizabethton received the highest funding allotment out of four other awardees. "They only awarded one project per TDOT region, and our project was the Region 1 project," said Ingle. "I think that means it was pretty competitive. We feel very good about that." Johnson City Transit grant Johnson City will receive $360,000 from the state to cover 80% of the cost to fix the roof of the Johnson City Transit System building on Market Street. Jeff Rawles, assistant transit director of Johnson City, said the building's aging roof suffered some damage during the Hurricane Helene floods last year. "After everything happened, you didn't really have a lot of people to contact, because everybody else was tied up helping everybody else," Rawles said. "We're very fortunate TDOT has these grant opportunities annually." The funds come from Tennessee's IMPROVE Transit Investment Grant, which funds transit-related projects across the state. This year, a total of $21 million was allocated to 14 grantees. Rawles said the city hopes to kick off the repairs in late 2026. First Tennessee Human Resource Agency grant FTHRA will receive $120,822 from the state to upgrade its fleet management system. Johnson City-based agency provides transportation services to the entire Northeast Tennessee region. The organization has a fleet of 140 vehicles which completed 139,000 trips last year. "So when you hear those numbers, you kind of realize that we've got to be efficient and effective and with that size," said FTHRA Executive Director Jason Cody. Funds from the IMPROVE Transit Investment grant will cover a five-year licensing fee to automate the fleet's maintenance notifications, letting drivers know when it is time for an oil change, tire rotation or brake replacement. "It'll help us maintain our fleet in top condition so we can continue to serve the community efficiently," Cody said. "Because maintenance is so critical for assets at 140 vans, because we want to keep them on the road, and we want to keep them in good shape." Cody said the system is likely to be integrated into FTHRA operations by next fiscal quarter.