N.C. Highway Maintenance Is Behind and Won't Catch Up Any Time Soon

Indy Week ^ | May 04, 2021 | Brian Keyes

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

$3.4 billion.

That’s how much bad roads and congestion in North Carolina costs its drivers in higher vehicle ownership costs, according to a report commissioned by the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

Fixing those roads—as well as repairing and replacing bridges, building new highways and any other large projects the N.C. DOT has on its schedule—takes money, and lots of it. Steve Abbott, a spokesperson for the N.C. DOT, said that to bring every bridge in the state to “good” condition would cost $3.8 billion, roughly 71 percent of the department’s $5.3 billion budget for the year.

“As of now, that’s money we don’t have,” Abbott said. “So we have to spend the money (we do have) wisely.”

The lack of funds has caused a backlog of infrastructure projects, many of which won’t be addressed for years.

“We have our wish list (with) thousands of projects,” Abbott said. “While you can’t afford your wish list, you have to operate just like a household. You want to do all-new-this, all-new-that, new roof, you want to put a pool and you want to have all replacements. Well, you don’t have that in your budget so you decide OK, this year we’re gonna do this, this, this. Next year, we’re gonna do this, this and this. And that’s the same thing we go through basically.”

That’s why a combination of different stakeholders including the N.C. DOT and business advocacy organizations are coming together to try change the funding for the N.C. DOT—not just in the amount given by the state legislature, but in where its funding comes from in the first place.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Never enough, never enough, never enough . . .

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

PING!

[Don W]

Stop diverting highway finds to buses and other non-highway purposes. Use the tax collected FROM road users FOR THE ROADS. It’s not rocket surgery!

[cymbeline]

“Never enough, never enough, never enough . . . “

Correct.

Maintaining what we’ve got is one thing, expanding our road system is another.

I’m not a public transit cheerleader but building more and more expensive limited-access roads, especially through populated areas, has got to end somewhere.

[CTyank]

I escaped occupied CT and moved to NC near Raleigh in 2008.

The road work seems endless. I 40, 440, are always under construction and the new southern side of the 540 loop is moving at a fast clip. Meanwhile, the burbs are under a crush of new residents fleeing the blue states and cities. Road widening and repair is happening everywhere.

Might be that they did not originally budget for the mass exodus,

[BobL]

In the Leftist world, this is called ‘coordinated action’...put the word out to people, at ALL levels, to bitch about the same thing, at the same time, and that $$$$ can only fix the problem.

They do run an IMPRESSIVE operation!

[cymbeline]

“I escaped occupied CT and moved to NC near Raleigh in 2008.”

Hey, I live around Raleigh. We were on I40 toward Chapel Hill last Sunday. Mucho cars roaring in both directions. Jammed up where I40 goes to 2 lanes each way just west of Chapel Hill.

[AppyPappy]

Same as it ever was. It was that way in the 90’s.

[Viking2002]

I've been driving that stretch of I-85/I-77 every Christmas for 22 years, and they only now have that piece of the 85/77 interchange at the top end of Charlotte finished. That drag between there and Statesville is still a train wreck. And every year I tell my wife that there must be kickbacks or other shenanigans going on, because there's no way in hell it takes over two decades to complete what a good contractor could do in a couple of years. But what do you expect when you see one guy on a backhoe and nine guys leaning on their shovels, watching? That tax money is trickling down to those road workers as a nice take-home, after everybody above them spoons a little off the top.

FTA:

'The problem, as groups like the N.C. Chamber see it, is that the largest source of the N.C. DOT’s budget comes from the motor fuel tax—36.1 cents per gallon—and accounts for 54 percent of the total N.C. DOT revenue. As inflation grows and cars get more fuel efficient, the comparative purchasing power of that tax gets smaller and smaller.'

'The result is that drivers who pay less for gasoline aren’t chipping in money to the Highway Fund comparable to the damage their vehicles cause the roads.'

IOW, while you're feeling smug about driving your little electric Nissan Yapadoo and going 'green', you're gonna get penalized for doing it through higher gas and transportation taxes (notice the accusatory tone above).

[Harpotoo]

I live here in Apex and have seen massive growth. Anywhere some land here and in Cary etc, Townhouses go up and Up and UP and $$$$

[Tax-chick]

Wow, this is so unexpected.

[cranked]

Lulz.

When I drive into N.C. and see the sign that says, ‘Welcome to North Carolina,’ I always think to myself it should read: ‘Welcome tot he Twilight Zone’....just saying.