See How Many Of North Carolina’s Urban Roads Are In Bad Shape

A new report from a national transportation research group finds that one-third of the nation’s major urban roadways are in poor condition, and that includes roads in North Carolina.

The non-profit group TRIP examined the state of major roads in the country, including the pavement conditions. TRIP says it used information provided by the Federal Highway Administration to categorize roads and highways into poor, mediocre, fair or good condition. TRIP further calculated what share of major roads in an urban area fall into each of the four categories.

The organization defined an urban area as including the major city in the region and its neighboring or surrounding suburban areas.

In North Carolina, TRIP examined roads in the Charlotte, Raleigh, Asheville, Greensboro, Durham, Hickory, Wilmington, Winston-Salem and Fayetteville urban areas. According to TRIP, 21 percent of the roads in the Charlotte-metro area are in poor condition, 23 percent are in mediocre condition, 23 percent are in fair condition and 33 percent are in good condition. The Charlotte-metro urban area fares much better in TRIP’s report compared to the 20 urban areas listed as having the highest percentage of roads in poor conditions. The top 20 urban areas with the worst roads range from having a 37 percent share of roads in poor condition to having 71 percent of roads in poor condition.

Here’s how the rest of North Carolina’s urban areas fared:

Asheville, NC

• Poor condition— 15 percent
• Mediocre condition — 17 percent
• Fair condition — 20 percent
• Good condition — 48 percent

Raleigh, NC

• Poor condition— 10 percent
• Mediocre condition — 16 percent
• Fair condition — 25 percent
• Good condition — 49 percent

Durham, NC

• Poor condition — 20 percent
• Mediocre condition — 21 percent
• Fair condition — 23 percent
• Good condition — 37 percent

Fayetteville, NC

• Poor condition — 11 percent
• Mediocre condition — 21 percent
• Fair condition — 22 percent
• Good condition — 46 percent

Greensboro, NC

• Poor condition — 17 percent
• Mediocre condition — 29 percent
• Fair condition — 21 percent
• Good condition — 33 percent

Hickory, NC

• Poor condition — 11 percent
• Mediocre condition — 18 percent
• Fair condition — 25 percent
• Good condition — 47 percent

Wilmington, NC

• Poor condition — 17 percent
• Mediocre condition — 26 percent
• Fair condition — 21 percent
• Good condition — 36 percent

Winston-Salem, NC

• Poor condition — 12 percent
• Mediocre condition — 25 percent
• Fair condition — 25 percent
• Good condition — 38 percent

TRIP’s report also looked at how much extra money drivers spend in a year due to driving on roads that are in bad condition. On average, TRIP says a driver spends $599 annually in extra vehicle operating costs. In the Charlotte-metro urban area, TRIP says a driver spends $551 annually in extra operating costs, lower than the national average.

Here’s how much drivers spend annually on average in other urban areas in North Carolina:

• Asheville — $420
• Raleigh — $348
• Durham — $522
• Fayetteville — $383
• Greensboro — $521
• Hickory — $370
• Wilmington — $509
• Winston-Salem — $435

The top 20 urban areas with the highest share of roads in poor conditions are:

• San Francisco-Oakland, California (71 percent)
• San Jose, California (64 percent)
• Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California (57 percent)
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin (54 percent)
• Honolulu, Hawaii (54 percent)
• Akron, Ohio (49 percent)
• Cleveland, Ohio (49 percent)
• New York-Newark, New York-New Jersey-Connecticut (46 percent)
• Providence, Rhode Island-Massachusetts (46 percent)
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Delaware-Maryland (43 percent)
• Seattle, Washington (41 percent)
• Sacramento, California (41 percent)
• Riverside-San Bernardino, California (40 percent)
• Memphis, Tennessee-Mississippi-Arkansas (40 percent)
• Bridgeport-Stamford, Connecticut-New York (40 percent)
• Fresno, California (40 percent)
• Denver-Aurora, Colorado (40 percent)
• Baton Rouge, Louisiana (38 percent)
• Colorado Springs, Colorado (37 percent)
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (37 percent)

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