Connecticut”™s infrastructure is so bad ”“ pause for a “Match Game”-style response, “How bad is it?” ”“ that a new report warns 62 percent of the state”™s major roads are in poor or mediocre condition. The report also found 8 percent of Connecticut bridges, or more than 300 bridges, are structurally deficient.
The transportation research organization TRIP estimated that Connecticut motorists traveling on roads in serious need of repair spend a total of $1.8 billion a year in extra vehicle repairs and operating costs, or $681 per motorist. The report also noted that 61 percent of the state”™s urban interstates get congested during peak hours, which is no surprise since vehicular travel on Connecticut”™s highways increased by 3 percent between 2000 and 2016. Connecticut”™s population grew by 5 percent between 2000 and 2017.
There were 293 traffic fatalities in 2016 in Connecticut, and a total of 1,319 people died on the state”™s highways from 2012 through 2016. On the positive side, Connecticut”™s traffic fatality rate of 0.93 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles of travel was lower than the 1.18 national average. And not every incident can be blamed on lousy drivers: TRIP estimated that motor vehicle crashes in which roadway design was likely a contributing factor cost Connecticut motorists $1.6 billion per year in medical costs, lost productivity, travel delays, workplace costs, insurance costs and legal costs.
