A report composed by The Road Information Project (TRIP) maintains congestion, travel volume, and pavement deterioration rates on Maryland’s Interstate Highway System are among the highest in the nation.
TRIP officials said Restoring Maryland’s Interstate Highway System: Meeting Maryland’s Transportation Needs with a Reliable, Safe & Well-Maintained National Highway Network examined the use, condition, and benefits of Maryland’s Interstate system.
“The long-term vision that helped establish the current interstate system nearly 65 years ago is needed again today,” Dave Kearby, TRIP’s executive director, said. “In order to rebuild the nation’s economy, maintain personal and commercial mobility, and improve quality of life, adequate transportation investment and a sustainable, long-term funding source for the federal surface transportation program must remain a priority.”
The report determined from 2000 to 2018, vehicle travel on Maryland’s interstates has increased at a rate nine times faster than the rate at which new lane capacity has been added. As a result, Maryland’s interstates are the second busiest and the second most congested in the nation.
Use has also led to increased deterioration on Maryland’s interstate highways, officials said, with the share of interstate pavement in poor condition in Maryland being 11th highest in the country.
TRIP concludes restoring and upgrading the state’s highway system to meet the nation’s transportation needs requires strong federal leadership and a robust federal-state partnership to reestablish the Interstate Highway System as the nation’s premier transportation network.