On May 18, the National Association of Counties (NACo) issued a report that underlined the difficulties counties are facing in dealing with their deteriorating roads and bridges.

According to NACo “Counties own and maintain 44% of public roads and 38% of bridges, infrastructure essential not only for daily travel but also for economic competitiveness, national security and quality of life”

The report points out that counties are structurally disadvantaged in accessing  infrastructure funding. Although counties own 28% of federal-aid highway miles, states direct only about 14% of transportation funding to local governments overall, including counties, cities and towns”

What’s more, “Counties also face disadvantages in purchasing materials and competing for labor, as states often benefit from larger federal subsidies and purchasing power.”

Things are just getting worse and NACo found that “nearly 40% of major U.S. roads are in poor or mediocre condition, and over 40,000 bridges are structurally deficient. Driving on deteriorated, congested roads costs the average driver more than $1,400 annually in vehicle operating costs and lost time, while inadequate roadway safety contributes to at least one-third of fatal crashes.”

Meanwhile, efforts to address this unfortunate situation are hobbled by escalating costs. “Maintaining infrastructure is now substantially more expensive than it was a decade ago,” according to the report, “due to rapid price increases across the construction sector. 

Between February 2020 and late 2023, overall construction input prices rose by nearly 40%, driven by higher costs for concrete and diesel fuel used to operate heavy machinery and inflation.

NACo points to Washington County Iowa as a case in point, in that small county with a population of about 23,000, “the cost per mile of a road paving project nearly doubled ($495,919 to $893,191) between 2018 and 2026. Construction costs have increased by about 73% since 2021.”

Are there any solutions to this seemingly intractable situation? NACo calls for help from the federal government, pointing out that “Congress has the opportunity to address this situation in the upcoming surface transportation reauthorization bill, which will set federal funding levels for transportation programs for the next five years and enact policy changes on how those funds are spent. Without a stronger federal partnership, county-owned infrastructure will continue to fall behind as costs rise,” 

According to a release issued by NACo, “This surface transportation reauthorization bill is a valuable opportunity to change federal funding policies so that they better reflect the needs and role that counties play in our transportation network,” said Matthew Chase, Executive Director of NACo. “This new report shows the problems we face with increasing costs and aging infrastructure; if Congress ignores this issue this year then we will only face bigger problems in the next reauthorization.”

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