Pennsylvania’s bridges are bad, its road spending isn’t what it should be and its urban traffic congestion is among the worst in the nation, but fewer people die on Pennsylvania’s roads than in most states.
Those are the conclusions of an annual report on state road conditions and cost efficiency across the country released Thursday by the Reason Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank based in Los Angeles. Overall, the foundation ranked Pennsylvania 39th out of 50 states for the second year in a row, which it said isn’t too bad given the state’s topography and weather conditions.
Based on 2020 statistics, researchers ranked Pennsylvania 35th in spending per mile of roads to be maintained; 46th for the number of structurally deficient bridges; 45th in urban congestion; 43rd in the condition of interstate pavement; and 36th in the condition of rural interstate pavement.
The spending numbers are particularly important since Pennsylvania has the fifth most structurally deficient bridges at 15.28% and ranks eighth worst in the condition of urban interstate pavement. So that means while roads and bridges are in relatively poor shape, the state ranks 35th in spending at $102,329 per mile of state-controlled roads.
“To improve in the rankings, Pennsylvania needs to reduce its percentage of structurally deficient bridges and its urbanized area congestion,” Baruch Feigenbaum, lead author of the report and senior managing director of transportation policy at foundation, said in a statement. “Given the poor condition of its bridges and its mediocre pavement condition, the state might consider reprioritizing its spending to focus more on roadway and bridge maintenance.
“While it may be challenging for Pennsylvania to have low costs and roadways and bridges in good condition, the state needs to prioritize bringing its infrastructure to a state of good repair.”
Gov. Tom Wolf and the state Department of Transportation have been lobbying for months for additional road money, claiming the state spends only $6.9 billion a year when it should spend $15 billion to fix all of the problems. The state wants to add tolls to nine major bridges and use the proceeds to replace and maintain them for 30 years and is preparing legislation to replace the stagnant gasoline tax — which provides 78% of road and bridge money — with fees for package delivery, Uber and Lyft rides and eventually fees based on miles driven.
The state needs those kinds of changes in addition to an estimated $4 billion for Pennsylvania in the federal infrastructure package over the next five years, PennDOT spokeswoman Alexis Campbell said. Ms. Campbell noted that with nearly 40,000 miles of roadway and more than 25,400 bridges, Pennsylvania has one of the largest state-maintained road and bridge networks in the country.
“We are grateful for the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which will bring $4 billion in new highway and bridge funds to Pennsylvania over five years,” Ms. Campbell said in a statement. “That investment, coupled with state-level solutions like [package and shared-ride fees] are critical to helping us build for the future.”
Ms. Campbell noted the state also has reduced its number of bridges in poor condition from 6,034 in 2008 to 2,433 today. A big part of that improvement came through an innovative program in which more than 500 small, similar bridges were replaced through a public-private partnership where one contractor replaced the bridges and will maintain them for 30 years.
The study says the state’s drivers spent 35.53 hours in urban congestion in 2020, sixth worst in the country, with New Jersey the worst at 86.14 hours. Ms. Campbell noted that one method the report suggested to reduce congestion, charging fees for rush-hour traffic or right to use extra lanes, was recommended by a special commission Mr. Wolf appointed early this year.
The state’s highest rankings were 22nd in overall fatality rate and 10th in rural fatality rate.
With all factors considered, the study said, Pennsylvania isn’t doing a bad job.
“It is fair to say the state is not the highest performer in our study. However, given its northeast neighborhood, where costs tend to be higher and overall road quality tends to be lower, Pennsylvania’s performance is acceptable.”
Ed Blazina: eblazina@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1470 or on Twitter @EdBlazina.
First Published: November 18, 2021, 11:00 a.m.
Updated: November 18, 2021, 11:10 a.m.
