WASHINGTON, D.C. — Tennessee leveraged $1.1 billion in federal highway and bridge formula funds in FY 2022 to help jumpstart 837 new improvement projects in communities across the state during the first year of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), a review of U.S. Treasury Department data through September 30 shows.

"A key takeaway from the Treasury data is that the bipartisan infrastructure law is working in year-one as intended, with state transportation departments disbursing funds and projects breaking ground," said American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) Chief Economist Dr. Alison Premo Black, who prepared the report.

"The economic and quality of life benefits of the infrastructure law will become even more apparent as funding continues in coming years," said ARTBA Chair Paula Hammond, a WSP USA Senior Vice President. "The beneficiaries of these long-term investments will be the American traveling public in their communities."

President Joe Biden signed the IIJA into law Nov. 15, 2021. Nearly 90 percent of IIJA's highway funds are dispersed by existing formula to states, with the remainder distributed through discretionary grant awards and other allocated programs.

Nationally, over 29,000 IIJA projects were launched through the end of September. The five largest projects supported by formula funds in Tennessee are:

• Interchange modification on I-55 at Crump Boulevard in Memphis - $99.6 million
• Interchange modifications and improvements on I-75, interchange at I-24, Phase 2 - $91.2 million
• Interchange modifications and reconfiguration on I-40, Donelson Pike Interchange - $70.7 million
• Widening of I-40 from West of SR 20 (US-412, Hollywood Drive) to West of SR 186 (US-45 Bypass) - $33.8 million
• Widening SR-63 from two to five lanes, from Campbell County Line to Hall Lane - $28.7 million