Williamson County mayoral candidate Todd Kaestner introduced a three-part action plan designed to address traffic congestion resulting from years of exponential population growth in the county.
Kaestner, a Republican candidate running to succeed retiring incumbent Williamson County Mayor Rogers Anderson, unveiled his “Traffic Relief Plan” on Wednesday, which focuses on paying down county debt to free up road funding, cutting red tape to speed up projects, and reclaiming state and federal dollars to fix congestion.
In a press release sent to The Tennessee Star, Kaestner said Williamson County has “studied traffic to death” while congestion continues to worsen in what he called Middle Tennessee’s “economic powerhouse.”
The first step to Kaestner’s plan includes prioritizing aggressively paying down the county’s nearly $1 billion debt to redirect more than $100 million a year from interest payments toward road widening and repairs, paired with a line-by-line budget audit and stricter zero-based budgeting.
“Debt isn’t always bad, but the time has come to get it off our books. We’ll redirect the freed up revenue straight to paving and widening our choked arteries throughout the county,” Kaestner said.
Kaestner’s proposal also calls for slashing bureaucratic delays that slow infrastructure projects and using expanded county and legislative powers, if necessary, to fast-track road construction.
“We can’t wait 15 years – families need solutions today,” Kaestner stated.
Finally, Kaestner wants to reclaim state and federal dollars he said Williamson County deserves, arguing local taxpayers should no longer subsidize the rest of the state and that those funds should be reinvested directly into fixing the county’s clogged roadways.
“Williamson County taxpayers aren’t an ATM for the rest of the state – it’s time to shift the model and reclaim our tax-dollars to fund our roads,” Kaestner said.
Touting his decade of executive experience in the private sector, Kaestner described himself as the candidate who is “ready to deliver results on day one,” adding, “We’ll tackle this traffic problem together and keep our county the envy of Tennessee.”
The general election for Williamson County mayor will be held on August 6, 2026. The Republican primary is scheduled for May 5.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Todd Kaestner” by Angie Hairrell Brown. Background Photo “Williamson County Courthouse” by Ichabod. CC BY-SA 3.0.
