FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 26, 2025
Contact:
Rocky Moretti (202) 262-0714
Carolyn Bonifas Kelly (703) 801-9212
Click here for the full report and news conference recording
LOCAL ROADS AND BRIDGES IN HARRISBURG AREA AND STATEWIDE WILL REQUIRE INCREASED FUNDING TO IMPROVE PAVEMENT & BRIDGE CONDITIONS & SAFETY, ACCORDING TO NEW REPORT
Harrisburg, PA – Pennsylvania’s local roads and bridges will require increased investment to improve pavement and bridge conditions, enhance safety, and promote economic vitality across the Keystone State. A new report released today by TRIP, a Washington, DC, based national transportation research nonprofit, examines pavement conditions, bridge conditions and traffic fatality rates on local roads in Pennsylvania. TRIP’s report, entitled “Pennsylvania’s Local Roads & Bridges: Providing a Modern, Sustainable Local Transportation System in the Keystone State,” includes data for each Pennsylvania county and statewide.
A lack of transportation funding, increasing construction costs and evolving transportation demands are projected to lead to declining conditions on local roads and may jeopardize future economic competitiveness. Pennsylvania’s local roads and bridges are critical to mobility in Pennsylvania, carrying 44 percent of vehicle travel in the state and accounting for 94 percent of roadway mileage and 75 percent of the state’s bridges. The state’s local roads are defined in the report as those that are not part of the state’s National Highway System (NHS). The NHS includes Interstate highways and other major highways in the state designated as the state’s most vital economic routes. The pavement condition data in this report is for local roadways maintained by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), and the bridge condition and traffic fatality data includes state- and locally-maintained roads and bridges.
The accelerated reduction of Motor License Funds to the Pennsylvania State Police, which provides more state investment in road and bridge maintenance, along with federal funds from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) have allowed for improved roadways and bridges statewide. At the same time, gas-tax revenues continue decreasing as vehicles become more efficient and more people choose to drive electric vehicles. As a result, over the next decade, state-owned pavement conditions will decline on all roads, and state-owned bridge conditions will decline, especially local bridges. Conditions on these roadways and bridges are projected to deteriorate in the future, as PennDOT will be forced to allocate available financial resources to maintaining NHS routes to federally mandated standards, leaving fewer resources available for the local state-owned highways.
Revenue from Pennsylvania’s motor fuel tax also doesn’t go as far as in the past due to the impact of highway construction inflation. The Federal Highway Administration’s national highway construction cost index, which measures labor and materials cost, increased by 54 percent from the beginning of 2022 through the third quarter of 2024
In 2024, annual vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in Pennsylvania totaled more than 103 billion miles – a three percent increase from 2023. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, vehicle travel in Pennsylvania dropped by as much as 47 percent in April 2020 (as compared to vehicle travel in April 2019). By 2024, VMT in the state had rebounded to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
According to the TRIP report, in the Harrisburg area (which includes Cumberland, Dauphin, Perry and York Counties), a total of 16 percent of local roads are in poor condition, 22 percent are in fair condition, 39 percent are in good condition and 23 percent are in excellent condition. Statewide, 26 percent of Pennsylvania’s more than 33,000 miles of local roads are rated in poor condition, 23 percent are in fair condition, 30 percent are in good condition and the remaining 22 percent are in excellent condition. The report includes the number and share of miles of local pavements in poor, fair, good and excellent condition in each county and statewide.
“Safe and efficient travel is critical to the success of our agriculture community,” said Matt Espenshade, president of the Pennsylvania State Grange. “Investment to maintain and improve our local roads and bridges is critical. As the President of the Pennsylvania State Grange and as a dairy farmer, I understand how critical it is for producers to be able to transport agricultural products safely and promptly. Our farming operations also depend on deliveries of feed, fuel and other necessities for our farming operations to continue running smoothly.”
In the Harrisburg area, 10 percent of local bridges- those maintained by PennDOT and local governments – are in poor/structurally deficient condition, 58 percent are in fair condition and the remaining 32 percent are in good condition. Statewide, 14 percent (3,370 of 24,877) of Pennsylvania’s local bridges were rated in poor/structurally deficient condition in 2025. A bridge is rated as poor/structurally deficient if there is significant deterioration of the bridge deck, supports or other major components. Bridges that are rated poor/structurally deficient may be posted for lower weight limits or closed if their condition warrants such action. Deteriorated bridges can have a significant impact on daily life. Restrictions on vehicle weight may cause many vehicles—especially emergency vehicles, commercial trucks, school buses, and farm equipment—to use alternate routes to avoid posted bridges. Redirected trips also lengthen travel time, waste fuel, and reduce the efficiency of the local economy. Fifty-two percent of Pennsylvania’s local bridges are rated in fair condition. A fair rating indicates that a bridge’s structural elements are sound but minor deterioration has occurred to the bridge’s deck, substructure or superstructure. The remaining 35 percent of the state’s local bridges are rated in good condition.
From 2019 to 2023, a total of 5,808 people were killed in traffic crashes in Pennsylvania, an average of 1,161 fatalities per year. During that time, 3,391 people were killed in traffic crashes on Pennsylvania’s local roads – representing 58 percent of traffic fatalities during this period. The traffic fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles of travel (VMT) on Pennsylvania’s local roads was 80 percent higher than the fatality rate on all other roads in the state (1.55 vs. 0.86). In the Harrisburg area, the traffic fatality rate per 100 million VMT on local roads was 1.35. Improving safety on Pennsylvania roads can be achieved through further enhancements in vehicle safety; improvements in driver, pedestrian, and bicyclist behavior; and the implementation of a variety of additional roadway safety features. Where appropriate, roadway improvements such as providing rumble strips, adding turn lanes, removing or shielding obstacles, adding or improving medians, widening lanes, widening and paving shoulders, improving intersection layout, providing better road markings, and upgrading or installing traffic signals could reduce the severity of serious traffic crashes.
“Schuylkill County is the third largest geographic land mass county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with 783 sq. miles,” said Robert S. Carl, Jr., president and CEO of the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce. “Because of this significant geography and our rural nature, supporting the maintenance and improvements of our infrastructure is directly related to our core mission of promoting commerce for businesses and nonprofits and supporting the quality of life for our residents. The Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce is a proud government and infrastructure advocate.”
“Pennsylvania’s local roads and bridges are the backbone of the state’s transportation network and will require adequate, sustained investment and improvements in order to continue providing mobility and economic opportunity for Pennsylvania’s residents and businesses,” said Dave Kearby, TRIP’s executive director. “