According to infrastructure statistics on all 50 states that were released by the U.S. Department of Transportation beneath the fog of imminent expiration of national highway funding at month’s end, a quarter of Alabama's roads are in bad shape, a percentage that puts the state among the least deficient in the country.
One in four Alabama roads are in poor or mediocre condition, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers' 2013 Report Card, the group’s most recent statistics. That percentage is the fourth lowest in the nation. By contrast, about 75% of roads in Wisconsin qualify as poor or mediocre.
Moreover, about 22% of Alabama’s bridges were found to be structurally deficient or functionally obsolete—that’s 3,608 bridges out of a total 16,078 in the state, placing Alabama in 21st place out of 50 in that category. Rhode Island has the worst bridges, with 56.5% deemed structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.
If the Obama administration gets its way, an increase in transportation funding would raise the state's federal highway aid from $740 million to $905 million over six years. Alabama would also see its Federal Transit Administration money grow from $53 million to $81 million.
