States work to fund costly bridge repairs, replacements

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With more than a third of all U.S. bridges requiring replacement or major repair work, states are moving to fill their funding needs for transportation infrastructure amid strained budgets.

But because some states do not have toll revenue to tap into for bridge repairs, and with gas tax revenue decreasing due to fewer people driving during COVID-19 shutdown orders, state and local budgets are getting stretched even thinner, experts said recently.

“If the feds do not come through this year, then states will have to come up with other sources of income in order to fund budgets for bridges,” Tennessee State Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver (R-Lancaster) told Transportation Today.

Nationwide, there are 231,000 U.S. bridges in need of some type of repair, according to the American Road and Transportation Builders Association’s (ARTBA) annual bridge report. Of that total, 80,000 bridges are deemed structurally deficient and need replacement, ARTBA says in the April report.

The cost to make the identified repairs for all 231,000 bridges is nearly $164 billion, according to ARTBA, which analyzed the database of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s 2019 National Bridge Inventory of 600,000 bridges across America.

The report comes as Congress and the Trump administration continue working on measures to respond to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Economic recovery from coronavirus begins with strategic road and bridge improvements,” ARTBA President Dave Bauer said. “Increased transportation investments support direct job creation and retention, while putting in place capital assets that will enhance U.S. productivity for decades to come.”

ARTBA ranked Tennessee 41st in the nation for having 887, or 4.4 percent, of its 20,226 bridges classified as structurally deficient, meaning that one of the key elements of each bridge is in poor or worse condition.

Generally, Tennessee “has identified needed repairs on 7,397 bridges at an estimated cost of $3.2 billion,” according to the ARTBA report, which noted that this compares to 7,415 bridges that needed work in 2015.

Overall, bridges are well maintained in Tennessee, said state Rep. Weaver, especially compared to the state’s cities, which she said “are basically like parking lots as traffic flow is a constant issue. We cannot build enough lanes fast enough to accommodate our growth.”

To handle the associated costs, Tennessee operates on a pay-as-you-go principle, explained Weaver.

“Being debt-free, it enables Tennessee to address short-term continuing resolutions better than most states,” she said. “Thus, we do not operate with funding methods such as bonds, foreign investments or infrastructure banks.”

State legislators each year budget for the projects that were listed by a law passed in 2017 called The Improve Act, which Weaver said lists 962 needed projects.

“With gas and diesel sales and vehicle registrations close to $55.9 million for fiscal year 2019, we appear to be close to projections with our revenue,” said Weaver, who also has supported state legislation calling for a 98 percent state funds and 2 percent county funds formula to fund roads.

“We also in last year’s legislation passed the same formula for bridges,” she said. “This is especially vital as in our rural counties in which I serve funding is very hard to meet for construction projects, such as county bridges and county roads.”

Other states are also feeling the pinch to repair or replace their bridges.

Iowa, for instance, was ranked No. 3 in the ARTBA report for having the most structurally deficient bridges, with 4,575 bridges (19 percent) of the state’s total 24,043 bridges classified as structurally deficient. Overall, Iowa has identified needed repairs on 15,223 bridges at an estimated cost of $3.1 billion.

“Iowa, like many other states, faces an aging inventory of bridges,” James Nelson, director of the Bridges and Structures Bureau at the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT), told Transportation Today.

The state funds its transportation infrastructure with what it calls the Road Use Tax Fund,” Nelson explained, with the revenue being derived from a combination of fuel tax and other vehicle fees, such as licenses and registration.

“We are using an asset management approach with a combination of bridge preservation and bridge replacement projects to maintain the condition of our bridge inventory,” added Nelson. “With modeling, we try to forecast the investment needed to keep our bridges in a state of good repair and much of the modeling shows an increase in bridge stewardship investment is necessary.”

And while Iowa has many challenges maintaining a state of good repair with its bridge inventory, Nelson said this doesn’t mean the state’s bridges are unsafe.

“There are many dedicated engineers both at the Iowa DOT, local public agencies and our consulting engineering partners who are inspecting bridges, designing bridge repairs, and designing bridge replacements to protect our transportation system users,” he said, adding that “an unsafe bridge is a closed bridge.”

For instance, a bridge that cannot carry legal loads is posted for reduced vehicle loads, said Nelson. “Safeguarding the public interest is at the forefront of our minds in all the decisions we make at the Bridges and Structures Bureau,” he said.

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania is ranked fifth on the ARTBA report with 3,501 bridges (15.3 percent) of its 22,911 bridges classified as structurally deficient. Overall, the state has identified needed repairs on 11,882 bridges at an estimated cost of $17.2 billion, according to ARTBA.

Highway and bridge infrastructure in Pennsylvania is primarily funded through the state’s Motor License Fund (MLF), according to Alexis Campbell, press secretary for the Pennsylvania DOT.

“Approximately 75 percent of the Motor License Fund is revenue from the gas tax, and approximately 25 percent is from motor vehicle/driver licensing fees,” Campbell wrote in an email to Transportation Today. “The MLF supports maintenance and improvements to Pennsylvania’s roads and bridges, as well as highway safety. Funds are used by Pennsylvania DOT, allocated to municipalities for their roads and bridges, and to the Pennsylvania State Police.”

The commonwealth has the fifth-largest, state-maintained road system and the third-largest, state-maintained bridge system in the nation, she added, noting that the “state-maintained system is far larger than any of our surrounding states and is comparable in size to the state-maintained road systems of New York, New Jersey, and all the New England states combined.” Campbell wrote.

There are dozens of ongoing transportation infrastructure projects in Pennsylvania during 2020.

For example, Philadelphia currently has 56 total road and bridge projects under construction, with another 28 anticipated this year for a total cost of over $1.33 billion, according to the state DOT’s Road & Bridge Project Construction website.

One of Philadelphia’s largest and most costly bridge jobs is the $66.6 million replacement of the Vine Street bridge that crosses over Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Delaware County, Pa., is also spending big bucks on bridge repairs and/or replacements. The Market Street Bridge that travels over AMTRAK, for instance, is being replaced for a total cost of $21.3 million, while bridge rehabilitations on two Interstate-95 overhead bridges will cost more than $28.6 million. Those are just two of 46 road and bridge projects under construction in Delaware County that will total $306 million.

At the same time, funding issues have emerged. During a May 12 hearing held by the Pennsylvania Senate Transportation Committee with the Pennsylvania DOT and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, more than $1 billion in revenue losses to the state’s transportation system was uncovered.

“Governor Wolf’s overreaching executive orders on COVID-19 will dismantle the multimodal transportation system of the commonwealth,” said state Sen. Kim Ward (R-Westmoreland County), who chairs the committee. “The transportation program was fiscally constrained before COVID-19. Now, the future of funding our highways, public transportation, airports and other assets is in jeopardy.”

According to Senate Republicans, Gov. Tom Wolf’s statewide stay-at-home order caused significant traffic reductions on Pennsylvania DOT highways and the Pennsylvania Turnpike, leading to less revenue collected from the liquid fuels tax and tolls, respectively, while also causing the shutdown of all highway projects that left 50,000 highway contractors unemployed.

Acting Pennsylvania DOT Secretary Yassmin Gramian testified during the hearing that the projected transportation revenue impacts will mean at least $800 million less in state construction and maintenance programs and more than $100 million less available for multimodal initiatives.

The message from Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission CEO Mark Compton was similar, with turnpike estimated toll revenues declining by approximately $118 million, according to Senate GOP members.

“Pennsylvania’s transportation system is the foundation of a strong economy, and we need a reliable system to help Pennsylvania recover from the global pandemic,” said Sen. Ward. “An estimated loss of $1 billion to our transportation program will have a significant impact on highway safety, economic development and mobility for this year and next year.”

Most states will receive financial relief from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act and members of Congress also are evaluating whether to pass a $50 billion stimulus package for roads and bridges.