TRIP Says MO Rural Roads Deficient

TRIP, a national non-profit transportation research group based in Washington, D.C. has reported that as of 2010, 18 percent of Missouri's rural bridges were rated as structurally deficient, the seventh highest percentage in the nation. An additional 11 percent of the state's rural bridges were functionally obsolete. In 2008, 20 percent of the state's major rural roads were rated in poor condition, the twelfth highest percentage in the nation. An additional 61 percent of Missouri's major rural roads were rated in mediocre or fair condition.

Despite a recent decrease in the overall fatality rate on America's roads, traffic crashes and fatalities on Missouri's rural roads remain disproportionately high, occurring at a rate more than three times higher than on all other roads. In 2009, Missouri's non-Interstate rural roads had a traffic fatality rate of 2.31 deaths for every 100 million vehicle miles of travel, compared to a fatality rate on all other roads of 0.75 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles of travel. Of the 878 traffic fatalities that occurred in Missouri in 2009, 533 were on rural, non-Interstate roads. Inadequate roadway safety design, longer emergency vehicle response times and the higher speeds traveled on rural roads are factors in the higher traffic fatality rate.

"The condition and safety of these roads and bridges is critically important to the hundreds of thousands of Missourians who live and make their living in the state's rural areas. While progress has been made, there is still much left to be done," said Doug Smith, president of the Associated General Contractors of Missouri. "There is a direct correlation between the condition and safety of the state's rural roads and the limited funding that MoDOT has available."

"The safety and quality of life in America's small communities and rural areas and the health of the nation's economy ride on our rural transportation system. This backbone of the heartland allows mobility and connectivity for millions of rural Americans and provides crucial links from farm to market, moves manufactured and energy products, and provides access to countless tourist and recreational destinations," said Will Wilkins, executive director of TRIP. "But, with long-term federal transportation legislation stuck in political gridlock in Washington, America's rural communities and economies could face even higher unemployment and decline. Funding the modernization of our rural transportation system will create jobs and help ensure long-term economic development and quality of life in rural America."

"Missouri's rural and urban transportation systems are critical to moving the state's economy forward," stated Missouri Transportation Alliance Spokesman Bill McKenna. "Our infrastructure is a complete system that must be funded as a whole to ensure that our economy, our communities, and our local businesses can survive, prosper, and create good-paying jobs. Without increased transportation funding, these dire statistics will be a footnote on a path that leads our state to an economic dead end."

The TRIP report, "Rural Connections: Challenges and Opportunities in America's Heartland," defines Rural America as all places and people living outside the primary daily commuting zones of cities with 50,000 people or more.

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