PA's Interstate System Badly Needs Road, Bridge Repairs: Study

PENNSYLVANIA — The condition of Pennsylvania's interstate highways are deteriorating and rank low when compared with other states, a new study by the nonprofit transportation research organization TRIP has concluded.

The report, "America's Interstate Highway System at 65: Meeting America's Transportation Needs With a Reliable, Safe & Well-Maintained National Highway Network," looks at the interstate system's use, condition and benefits. TRIP also examined the findings of a 2019 Transportation Research Board study on what is needed to restore and upgrade the interstate system.

According to the TRIP report, pavements on five percent of Pennsylvania’s interstates are in poor condition, the 11th highest share in the nation. Four percent of Pennsylvania’s Interstate
bridges are rated in poor or structurally deficient condition, the 12th highest share in the country.

Additionally, 27 percent of Pennsylvania urban interstate highways are considered congested during peak hours. Vehicle travel on state interstates increased 22 percent from 2000 to 2019.

“Despite the progress we’ve made since passage of the (state) Transportation Funding Act in 2013, Pennsylvania has many remaining bridge and highway repair needs, and significant funding challenges facing us,” said Jason Wagner, managing director of the Pennsylvania Highway Information Association. “Reauthorizing a long-term, adequately funded federal assistance package would help address those needs, while putting thousands of Pennsylvanians back to work.”

In 2013, state lawmakers approved a measure investing as much as an additional $2.4 billion annually in transportation funding. But state transportation officials long have said that amount is insufficient to pay for all of the road and bridge repairs that are needed along state roads.

At the federal level, the Transportation Research Board in 2019 recommended that the annual investment in the interstate highway system should be increased approximately two-and-a-half times, from $23 billion in 2018 to $57 billion by 2038.