I-40 Hurricane Helene repairs, two years later

[jmecklenborg]

I-40 is still a mess in the Smoky Mountains, two years after Hurricane Helene shut down the interstate. They bulldozed several miles of rock into the river to create a work surface so that they can shore up the embankment. It looks incredibly dangerous since they do rafting on this river:

[mrnyc]

blue state money to the rescue.

[MountainSkyline]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

blue state money to the rescue.

"UNITED" States money to the rescue.

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

blue state money to the rescue.

Tennessee has actually, over the last few years (2023 onward), become a net tax contributor:

https://www.newsweek.com/map-federal-taxes-state-benefits-differences-2096211

In the 2023 data, half the states that are net contributors are red or purple (and three of the purple states are becoming more red slowly over time):

Blue (8):
California
Washington
New York
Massachusetts
New Jersey
Rhode Island
Delaware
Colorado

Purple (4):
Minnesota
Florida
Ohio
Georgia

Red (5):
Texas
Tennessee
Utah
Nebraska
Missouri

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

Tennessee has actually, over the last few years (2023 onward), become a net tax contributor:

All of that is irrelevant. I-40 through this area is an important roadway, not a pork project like pre-I-74 in West Virginia and others.

I found this deceptive traffic count graph on TDOT's website. At first glance there has been a precipitous drop-off due to this roadway's reconstruction, but in fact it's only down 4,000 vehicles per day: