Report: Bridges, roads need repairs
Motorists who drive on Pennsylvania’s rural roads might not be surprised, but a new report by TRIP, a national nonprofit transportation research group, ranked Pennsylvania as the state with the highest number of structurally deficient rural bridges in the country.
The report also finds that Pennsylvania ranks 20th in the number of rural roads in poor condition.
According to Washington, D.C.,-based TRIP, America’s rural transportation system is in need of repairs and modernization in order to support economic growth in rural America, which provides much of the energy and food for Americans.
Rural areas also are home to an aging and increasingly diverse population that relies heavily on the quality of transportation infrastructure for access to schools, hospitals and jobs.
The report, released today, evaluates the safety and condition of the nation’s roads and bridges and shows that rural transportation in the United States is in critical need of improvements to address its deficient roads and bridges, high crash rates, and inadequate connections and capacity rate.
In a teleconference call, Rocky Moretti, director of research and policy for TRIP, said America’s rural roads and bridges have significant deficiencies.
In 2013, 15 percent of the nation’s major rural roads were rated in poor condition and another 39 percent were rated in mediocre or fair condition. In 2014, 11 percent of the nation’s rural bridges were rated as structurally deficient and 10 percent were functionally obsolete.
The current federal surface transportation program, which is a critical source of funding for rural roads, is set to expire May 31.
“The 61 million people who live in rural America deserve a transportation system that is safe, efficient and reliable,” said Kathleen Bower, AAA vice president of public affairs. “It is up to Congress to pass a fully funded, long-term bill to improve our nation’s rural roads before the Highway Trust Fund runs out of money this summer.”
Bower said that years of inadequate transportation funding have resulted in a deficient rural transportation network that does not meet today’s needs.
In addition to deteriorated roads and bridges, the TRIP report finds traffic crashes and fatalities on rural roads are disproportionately high, occurring at a rate nearly three times higher than all other roads.
In 2013, non-interstate rural roads had a traffic fatality rate of 2.20 deaths for every 100 million vehicle miles of travel, compared to a fatality rate on all other roads of 0.75 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles of travel. Rural traffic fatality rates remain high, despite a substantial decrease in the number of overall fatalities.
America’s rural roads and bridges have significant deficiencies. In 2013, 15 percent of the nation’s major rural roads were rated in poor condition and another 39 percent were rated in mediocre or fair condition. In 2014, 11 percent of the nation’s rural bridges were rated as structurally deficient and 10 percent were functionally obsolete.
According to the report, 18 percent of Pennsylvania’s rural roads are in poor condition; 25 percent of its rural bridges are structurally deficient; and the rural traffic fatality rate in Pennsylvania is 2.23 deaths for every 100 million vehicle miles of travel, ranking it 17th highest in the country.
Moretti also noted that travel loads on America’s rural roads, including Pennsylvania, are increasing dramatically due to the booming energy extraction sector.
Also, he pointed out, the condition and quality of the nation’s highway system plays a critical role in providing access to America’s popular tourist destinations, particularly its scenic parks and recreational areas, many of which are located in rural areas.
A new report from the American Association of Highway and Transportation Officials shows that significant boost in investment on the nation’s roads, highways, bridges and public transit systems is needed to improve their condition and to meet the nation’s transportation needs.
The AASHTO Transportation Bottom Line Report also found that annual investment in the nation’s roads, highways and bridges needs to increase from $88 billion to $120 billion and from $17 billion to $43 billion in the nation’s public transit systems, to improve conditions and meet the nation’s mobility needs.
Finally, the AASHTO report found that the current backlog in needed road, highway and bridge improvements is $740 billion.
”We’ve underfunded transportation for years,” said AAA’s Bowers, referring to the federal Highway Trust Fund, which collects money from a nationwide gas tax and distributes it to the states for building and repairing roads, bridges and other infrastructure. “There’s a massive gap in funding just to bring our grades from a D-plus to a C. That’s unacceptable in this country.”