Study: Indiana Faces Road Funding Shortfall In Fixing Roads And Bridges

Source: Bilanol / Getty

STATEWIDE — The state is facing a sizable shortfall in funding when it comes to maintaining and fixing roads and bridges throughout Indiana.

A Local Technical Assistance Program study commissioned by the state government and Purdue University has found that to completely fix deteriorating roads over the next ten years Indiana would need an additional $2.7 billion annually.

“This strategy will ensure that failed roads are addressed across Indiana’s cities, towns, and counties and will assist in balancing the condition level discrepancy among the local road network and state road network,” the study summarized.

Just to maintain the roads as they are now, the state is also behind $987 million, according to the study.

“This strategy adds years of service life, and reduces the percentage of local roads in poor condition to less than
20% of the network, but does not address enough failed roads to “move the needle” on the local network,” the study said.

The numbers show that 28% of Indiana’s roads are in poor condition. The study said that it’s more expensive to maintain roads in poor condition, and as you might expect would require additional investment just to bring them up to good condition. To maintain roads in poor condition, it costs the state between $150,000 and $1.5 million per mile compared to roads in good condition which cost far less to maintain; between $1,000 and $7,500 per mile.

Some experts say that current taxes taken in by the state that go towards road funding have not kept up with inflation, which has contributed to the shortfall.

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