As Georgia considers means of addressing traffic congestion and growth, as well as improvements to transportation safety, the national transportation research group TRIP is calling back to a 2015 legislation’s investments, and all they helped the state achieve.
The 2015 Transportation Funding Act (TFA), TRIP said, allowed $5.4 billion to go toward transportation needs in the state beginning in 2016, with efforts continuing into 2021. Those efforts have thus far yielded road, highway and bridge repairs, safety improvements and a good deal of congestion relief, but the same report states that more reliable transportation funding will be needed just to maintain the overall aging transportation system and address ongoing traffic safety needs that the state’s growing economy makes necessity.
It is estimated that around $790 billion in goods are shipped to and from sites in Georgia annually. Those efforts rely heavily on its roads and bridges, and if not maintained, can be one of the factors companies examine when looking at locations to grow or expand. Unfortunately, the Modernizing Georgia’s Transportation System report found that there are a number of projects throughout the state lacking funding that would allow them to proceed before 2022.
It is a concern echoed by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT).
“Thanks to the support of elected leaders who understand the critical role that our state’s infrastructure plays in our economy and quality of life, we are making historic levels of investment and are able to better plan for future growth,” GDOT Commissioner Russell McMurry said. “That said, additional funding is without question still necessary in order to fully meet our needs, and we are hopeful we will be able to attract federal support while identifying additional state and local resources.”
The state is on track to grow by 2.5 million people by 2040. Vehicle travel in the state is already experiencing one of the highest growth rates in the country, and congestion is only expected to worsen as a result. Complicating this is that 5 percent of Georgia’s bridges are reportedly structurally deficient — something the TFA legislation allowed the state to start hitting back on, with an average of 232 bridges expected to be repaired, replaced or reconstructed between 2016 and 2020. TFA money is primarily going to get more roads out of poor or bad condition, but the report found that those in excellent and good condition continue to decline without the funding to fight back. Nearly half of the state’s roads were in excellent or good condition in 2016. Without intervention, those figures are expected to fall to 15 percent by the end of 2024.
“While the recent influx of funding has allowed Georgia to make strides in improving its transportation system, more work still needs to be done to accommodate and capitalize on the tremendous growth projected for the state,” TRIP Executive Director Will Wilkins said.