Improvements to the Newport Highway (U.S. 321) from the Cocke County line to the Nolichucky River, which had been ranked as a top local funding priority for the state last year, became the second local priority for 2011 in a vote Thursday.

The Technical Committee of the First Tennessee Rural Planning Organization, meeting Thursday in Johnson City, voted to rank a railroad overpass in Erwin as its top priority for 2011-13 funding, and moved the Newport Highway project down to second place.

The Erwin overpass had been ranked second last year.

The RPO makes recommendations for funding to the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT).

TDOT officials have said in the past that RPO recommendations are one of several factors considered when funding decisions are made by the state.

Robert K. Bird, a member of the Tusculum Planning Commission who represents Tusculum on the RPO Technical Committee, said the change in rankings came as a surprise.

"We got out-voted," Bird said. He said backers of the much smaller Erwin project "had more support."

He said that the matter was decided by secret-ballot vote among the seven or eight Technical Committee members present. He said he did not know the precise vote result.

Bird said the re-ranking was the most critical thing on the agenda for the Technical Committee meeting. The Greeneville Sun did not attend the meeting, but interviewed local participants afterward.

Bird said he and Greene County Road Superintendent David Weems "talked on behalf of our project," and Randy Trivette, Erwin's city recorder, "made a pitch for the (overpass) bridge."

Other than changing the two top rankings, all the other priorities on the RPO's list remained the same as they were last December, Bird said.

Along with Bird and Weems, Greeneville City Engineer Brad Peters is a member of the Technical Committee and normally attends, but was ill on Thursday.

David Martin, Greeneville's director of public works, said in a telephone interview Friday that he was not aware of the meeting, since Peters normally handles it for the Town of Greeneville. Martin said he was surprised and disappointed at the change in rankings.

Mosheim Mayor Billy Myers said in a separate telephone interview that Mosheim does not have a representative on the Technical Committee, though he personally attends meetings of the RPO Executive Committee.

Baileyton Mayor Tommy Casteel told the Sun much the same.

The action by the Technical Committee requires approval by the Executive Committee of the RPO in order to become official.

The Executive Committee of the 8-county agency includes the county mayors of all eight counties plus one municipal mayor from each of the counties. The mayors serve on a rotating basis if, as in Greene County, there is more than one municipality.

The Sun obtained a copy of the rankings from the state planning office in Johnson City.

Road Superintendent Weems told the Sun that he and Bird pointed out that the Newport Highway project will have a regional impact, rather than only a local one.

That section of the Newport Highway upgrade has been in the works for many years, Weems noted. It is ready for construction, while right-of-way has yet to be acquired for the Erwin project.

Weems said he told the Technical Committee that construction in Cocke County, plus work already done, will soon mean that the Newport Highway, U.S. 321, will be a four-lane highway that will funnel traffic onto a two-lane road at the Greene County line, "and we don't think that's a good thing."

Weems said he also tried to make the case that changing the priority ranking from last year might have the effect of sending a confusing message to TDOT, which will ultimately fund and build the projects.

Weems said the Erwin city manager made the case for the need for the railroad overpass from a safety standpoint.

The railroad crossing is between downtown Erwin and Interstate 26, and several present at the meeting said it is not uncommon for ambulances trying to get on or off of the Interstate highway to have to wait until a train moves out of the nearby switching yard.

Weems said several on the committee seemed to think that the Erwin project, which is much smaller than the 3.2-mile Newport Highway project, has a better chance of being funded in difficult financial times.

He said some members of the committee argued that, with TDOT funding very limited, having a small project ranked first might make a difference, and indicated they were not necessarily against the Greene County project.

It was pointed out in the meeting that TDOT recently had to return $190 million to the federal government, and that several programs statewide will see cuts as a result.

Weems said that four other Greene County projects remain on the priority list, ranked as they were last December.

Those projects are:

* improvements to the Newport Highway from the Nolichucky River to south of state Route 349 (the Warrensburg Road), a distance of 6.1 miles, ranked third, recommended for construction;

* improvements to the Newport Highway totaling 3.7 miles from state Route 349 to U.S. Highway 11E west of Greeneville, ranked fourth, recommended for construction;

* improvements to U.S. 321 from 11E west of Greeneville to state Route 93, the Kingsport Highway, ranked fifth, and

* improvements to U.S. Highway 11E from west of Greeneville to east of Greeneville, the 11-mile, so-called "northern loop" or "bypass of the bypass."

That project is recommended for right-of-way acquisition in 2011-13, and ranked sixth.

The only other projects ranked are in Hawkins County, one 4.3-mile improvement to U.S. Highway 11E from Mooresburg to Adams Lane, recommended for construction, and the other from there to south of Speedwell Road, near Bulls Gap, recommended for right-of-way acquisition.

They are ranked seventh and eighth.

The Technical Committee is made up of county road superintendents, street supervisors and municipal engineers in Carter, Greene, Hancock, Hawkins, Johnson, Sullivan, Unicoi and Washington counties.

The Technical Committee makes a recommendation to the Executive Committee, comprised of county and city mayors from those same counties.

Typically the Executive Committee ratifies the recommendations of the Technical Committee, although it does not have to follow those recommendations.

Chris Craig, the First Development District official in charge of the RPO, said the next Executive Committee meeting is scheduled for Nov. 3, at the Johnson City Transit Authority building.