With Critical Funds to Repair Ohio Roads and Bridges Set to Expire on July 31, Brown Calls For Long-Term Transportation Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 18, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — More than 6,500 bridges in Ohio are deemed “structurally deficient” or “functionally obsolete” and in need of critical repairs, according to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). These bridges rely on funding from the highway bill – set to expire at the end of July – for improvements and upgrades. With a deadline fast approaching, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) called for a bipartisan approach to fixing America’s highways and bridges by passing a long-term transportation bill.

“America’s transportation system was once the envy of the world,” Brown said. “But if we expect to continue our leadership in the global economy, we must invest in a long-term transportation plan—for both highways and transit programs. Too many of our roads, bridges, and railways have fallen into disrepair – in Ohio alone, nearly one quarter of our bridges are deficient. Forty-five percent of our state’s major urban highways are congested, costing our drivers $3.6 billion a year. The clock is ticking—it’s past time to rebuild our country’s roads and bridges and reauthorize the highway bill.”

Unless the federal transportation bill is reauthorized, critical road and bridge repairs in Ohio will be delayed – costing millions of dollars and putting construction jobs at risk. According to the FHWA, one-quarter of Ohio bridges are considered structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. More than 40 percent of Ohio’s roads are in poor or mediocre condition, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers. Driving on roads in need of repairs cost Ohio motorists $1.685 million per year or $212 per motorist in repairs and operating costs. Find more Ohio stats from the U.S. Department of Transportation here. During a news conference call today, Brown also released a county-by-county report on the bridges around Ohio in need of repairs.

Brown was joined by Grace Gallucci, executive director of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, to call on Congress to take immediate action to reauthorize the legislation while pointing to impacts Ohioans should anticipate if Congress does not act.

Yesterday, Brown, ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, joined a group of eight senators – including Democratic leadership and ranking members of the Senate Commerce, Finance, and Environment and Public Works Committees – in sending a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that outlines a path toward enactment of a long-term transportation bill.

The county-by-county report is below and here.

Source: Federal Highway Administration, December 2014

Functionally Obsolete is a status used to describe a bridge that is no longer by design functionally adequate for its task. Reasons for this status include that the bridge doesn’t have enough lanes to accommodate the traffic flow, it may be a drawbridge on a congested highway, or it may not have space for emergency shoulders. Functionally Obsolete does not communicate anything of a structural nature. A Functionally Obsolete bridge may be perfectly safe and structurally sound, but may be the source of traffic jams or may not have a high enough clearance to allow an oversized vehicle.

Structurally Deficient is a status used to describe a bridge that has one or more structural defects that require attention. This status does not indicate the severity of the defect but rather that a defect is present. Please see the Structural Evaluation and the Condition ratings of each bridge Deck, Substructure, and Superstructure for details of the nature and severity of the defect(s).

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