Nonpartisan group Transportation for America has released a report detailing the deteriorating condition of the U.S. road network.
As Statista’s Niall McCarthy notes, it found that states are continuing to push ahead with the expansion of their roads while neglecting to repair and carry out regular maintenance on existing infrastructure, which is creating new financial liabilities. The share of roads in poor condition nationwide increased from 14 to 20 percent between 2009 and 2017. This is particularly concerning given that Congress has provided additional federal funding for transportation infrastructure twice during that time frame.
As of 2017, the U.S. would have to spend $231.4 billion annually to keep its existing road network in a decent state and restore the backlog of roads in a poor condition over a six-year period. Between 2004 and 2008, states collectively spent $21 billion per year on road expansion and $16 billion per year on maintenance and preservation. Between 2009 and 2014, spending on new projects came to $21.3 billion while while the collective outlay for maintenance totaled $21.4 billion. Despite that increase, the still considerable financial outlay on new roads will require considerable and possibly unsustainable investment in the years ahead.
When it comes to managing the balance between new roads and the maintenance of existing ones, some states are performing better than others. For example, South Dakota allocated 69 percent of its highway capital budget to road repair between 2009 and 2014. During the same period, Mississippi dedicated 4 percent to repair and 77 percent to expansion. Given how mismanaged funding is, which states had the worst roads in 2017?
You will find more infographics at Statista
According to the report, 53 percent of roads in Rhode Island are deemed to be in poor condition, along with 45 percent in California and 42 percent in Hawaii. Idaho and Tennessee were at the opposite end of the table with only 5 percent of roads in both states deemed to be in poor condition.
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Not just w/ regard to roads, but some time ago our build out exceeded our ability to care for and maintain … thus, even at a slow rate of deterioration (which we no longer have) the relative decrepitness of our public spaces and infrastructure becomes very noticeable. It shouldn’t be built if there is no plan and capacity to care for it.
And by sleight of hand or outright theft much of the money for infrastructure gets diverted to ever less sustainable pensions for the bloated beaurocratic “public servants” that infest the government.
It was our Governator, Schwarzenegger, who decided to upgrade our existing roads rather than spend money on new roads. Thanks to him, we have a new hwy 138, formerly known as blood alley. The lone entry for the US under “slaughter alley”:
Blood Alley or Death Trap Highway: California State Route 138 (Pearblossom Highway) east of Palmdale and west of Interstate 15.[1]
California Deathway: California State Route 138. This highway earned its name with a high fatality rate. The road, which runs from Interstate 15 to Palmdale, averaged some 10 fatalities per year prior to improvements that began in 2006. In the past decade, fatalities have decreased thanks to upgrades like wider lanes.[2]
They’re so bad that…
PA’s roads were so bad in the mid 70s that it woke me up from a sound sleep (in the passenger seat) upon entering the state on I-81. That improved some after they started getting fed $$ again for imposing emissions testing.
Kalifornia’s roads were so bad 10 yrs. ago that I didn’t know there was a bad tire & bad alignment on my new truck until I got into Arizona.
The toll portion of I-40 thru OK was a pleasant change from the rest of the kidney-jarring X-country trip in a rental truck down on the helper springs.
But keep in mind, the first thing out of the boot licker’s mouths is typically “but who will build and take care of the roads?”
They steal and steal and steal and steal and then hand out to friends and shit on the rest of us.
All who support an end to government fully realize that stuff has to be paid for. But who can deny that substandard quality of construction (a hallmark of everything done under a government contract), combined with bureaucratic greed, combines to leave us all with horrible roads that don’t last and monies that vanish into vote-buying projects that attract media attention.
Nobody every does a ribbon cutting for a re-paved road or a properly maintained sewer system.
And then by the time the useless fuckers are out of office, the money is gone, the roads are in disrepair, and the parasites are all working for the companies they helped out while in office (or living off of a great, taxpayer-funded, pension).
Stop the new road building.