Report: Rural WV roads, bridges among worst in nation, MI worst
Charleston Gazette
Report: Rural WV roads, bridges among worst in nation
by Phil Kabler, Staff writer
West Virginia has some of the most deteriorated and dangerous rural roads in America, a new report by the Washington-based national transportation research group TRIP shows.
Released Tuesday, the report found that 29 percent of the Mountain State’s rural, non-interstate roads are in poor condition — the sixth-worst ranking in the United States — and that West Virginia has the seventh-highest rural-road death rate, at 2.61 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles, a fatal-accident rate that’s more than double that of other state roads.
In a national conference call Tuesday, representatives of TRIP, AAA and other organizations said it is a “national imperative” that Congress and the states adequately fund the country’s transportation systems.
“All levels of government have a role to play in making transportation improvements,” said Rocky Moretti, director of research and policy for TRIP.
The TRIP report found that 15 percent of all rural roads in the United States are in poor condition, and 11 percent of all rural bridges are structurally deficient. Poor roads, Moretti said, pose a “significant impediment to the quality of life and economic strength of rural America.”
In West Virginia, 13 percent of all rural route bridges are deficient, ranking it in a tie for 14th-worst state.
Moretti said bridges with structural deficiencies, while technically safe to use, often have to operate with weight restrictions, which can hamper rural economies, which predominately rely on agriculture and energy industries.
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The TRIP report, which analyzed Federal Highway Administration data from 2013 and 2014, found that Michigan has the worst rural roads, with 37 percent in poor condition, and that Pennsylvania has the highest percentage of structurally deficient rural bridges, at 25 percent.
Connecticut has the most dangerous rural roads, with a rural-road fatality rate of 3.57 per 100 million vehicle miles of travel, followed by South Carolina, at 3.4, according to the report.
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http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20150519/GZ01/150519240/1453
Wonder how much of WV bad roads are due to heavy truck traffic of fracking? I know many rural roads were in poor shape, but those trucks take a heavy toll and in WV & PA escape responsibility for their increased wear & tear on roads & bridges.
x p GD
