More than half of the roads in the New York City urban area, which includes Newark, are considered to be in poor condition, according to a report by TRIP, a nonprofit that researches and evaluates road conditions nationwide.
The report, released Thursday, found that 51% of the roads in our area have pavements that “are in substandard condition and provide an unacceptably rough ride to motorists.” The New York area ranked seventh in the nation, which had an average of of 28% for urban areas.
Poor roads are those considered to “provide an unacceptable ride and are in need of resurfacing or more significant repairs,” the report details.
San Francisco weighed in at the top of the list with 74% of their roads deemed to be in poor condition. Los Angeles was a close second with 73%.
“With Queens having several transportation gaps and a large import/export industry, businesses here continue to rely heavily on our roads not just to grow but to operate,” said Thomas Grech, executive director of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, in a statement. “TRIP’s report highlights the need for increased funding to ensure our roads and bridges are capable to continue handling these large amounts of traffic, and I thank them for highlighting those needs in this report.”
The data was calculated from the Federal Highway Administration’s 2013 annual survey of state transportation officials and based on a uniform pavement rating index. A spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Transportation said the city has invested an additional $242 million the budget over the next two fiscal years years, which amounts to the resurfacing of 1,200 lane miles in the Fiscal Year 2016 and 1,300 lane miles being resurfaced in Fiscal Year 2017. In 2015, 1019 lane miles were resurfaced.
The DOT assesses 90% of the city streets annually, she said.
Poor roads amount to more expenses, the report found using the Highway Development and Management Model and AAA’s 2014 vehicle operating costs to calculate operating costs. The New York City/Newark area ranked 15th in the average annual cost to drivers on poor roads.
It found that costs New Yorkers an average of $791 in vehicle operating costs per driver. That is 53% higher than the national average of $516 in extra vehicle operating costs, according to the report.
