States Spending on Rural Road Revamps

According to a report from the Pew Trusts, more states are spending on rural roads, many of which haven’t been repaved in decades.

The report cites healthy state budgets and federal funds from not only the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), but also stimulus funds in response to the pandemic.

Examples of rural spending includes Texas, which will spend $14 billion over the next 10 years on rural roads, an amount six times greater than that spent several years ago, according to the report.

In October, TRIP issued its report on rural road conditions across the nation, labeling only half of them as “good.” The rest were “poor” (12 percent; “mediocre” (19 percent); or “fair” (17 percent).

TRIP said the backlog of work on rural roads and bridges was more than $180 billion.

Source: Stateline