Anthony Rivetti

Mr. Fronk
Honors World Regional Geography
5/3/16
The Condition of Americas Roads
Although many view America as a very prosperous and well-maintained country, an
evaluation by the American Society of Civil Engineers suggests otherwise. This group releases a
report card on the performance of American infrastructure every four years. Grades are given
based on capacity, condition, funding, future need, operation and maintenance, public safety,
resilience, and innovation. The most recent report, released in 2013, shows that Americas
infrastructure is struggling, with a poor overall grade of a D+. The report card also gives
individual grades to each category of infrastructure, one of the most important being roads.
Roads were given a D on the report card for a variety of reasons, including poor condition,
capacity, investment, and funding.
The first contributing factors to the grade given to Americas roads are the poor condition
and low capacity of the highways. 32% of major U.S. roads are currently in poor or mediocre
condition, costing an average of $324 per person in repairs every year. Deficient pavement is a
very large problem, and costs more to repair over time than it would to maintain roads in good
condition. The poor condition of the roads causes people and the government to spend more
money than necessary. One problem with the highways small capacity is congestion. It is
estimated that 42% of major urban highways are congested, and that 1.9 billion gallons of
gasoline and 34 hours were wasted in 2010 due to congestion. This cost the U.S. economy $101

billion in wasted fuel. Congestion has declined slightly over the past years due to people
traveling fewer miles, however this trend is not likely to continue for very long. Solving this
problem is difficult because adding capacity to the highways is very expensive. So, cities and
states are looking for other ways to reduce congestion, always developing new technology.
The second reason roads received such a poor grade is the lack of funding and
investment. The Federal Highway Trust Fund, which contributes to the majority of funding for
roads, is headed toward bankruptcy. The FHTF relies on dwindling gas tax revenues, however
this tax has remained the same for over 20 years, and profits are decreasing due to the use of
more efficient vehicles. Furthermore, this tax is expected to decrease by 21% by 2040, resulting
in a $57 billion drop in highway funding. It is estimated that to maintain the nations highways in
their current condition, many very poor, would require an annual capital investment of $101
billion. To improve and maintain the roads condition would cost $179 billion annually.
Unfortunately, the government only spends $91 billion each year, which means that roads
deteriorate as years pass. 48% of the needed funding is not paid, and if nothing is done to stop
these trends, this number will grow to 54%. The nation needs to find new, reliable sources for
investment in Americas highway network.
In conclusion, Americas infrastructure and roads received poor grades on the
infrastructure report card. Many of the nations roads are in mediocre condition. They also lack
in capacity, which causes congestion and the wasting of gas and time. Another problem is that
the roads lack the necessary funding and investment. The budget for roadways is 48% lower than
the necessary funds. America needs to find new ways to fund the maintenance of roads, and it
must set aside more money to improve their condition.