As The Denver Post reports, deteriorating, congested and unsafe roads and bridges are costing Colorado drivers a total of $6.8 billion.
According to a reportreleased Wednesday by TRIP, a national transportation research group, Denver drivers spend an average of $2,162 each year on additional operating costs with residents in other parts of the state falling shortly behind that figure, which TRIP attributes at least in part to poor road conditions.
“These additional operating costs could be the extra maintenance that goes into when a driver hits a pothole and has to get something like an axle repaired,” said Carolyn Bonifas Kelly, TRIP’s associate director of research and communications. “But it could also mean things like tire wear, additional fuel costs of driving on damaged roads and even the accelerated rate of vehicle depreciation when drivers trade their vehicles in.”
The report also found that the number of miles traveled by vehicle in Colorado increased by almost 10 billion between 2000 and 2015, during which time Colorado’s population increased by 27 percent to 5.5 million.
Forty-one percent of the major roads locally and state-maintained in Colorado — including interstates, freeways and expressways — are in poor condition compared to 80 percent just in Denver. About 6 percent of Colorado’s bridges are reportedly structurally deficient.
With much of Colorado’s economy relying on manufacturing, agriculture, natural resources, and tourism, there is an immediate need to fix Colorado’s roads now in order to support the economic work the state currently has in order to stay competitive.
TRIP’s Kelly said it should be a priority to fix roads and bridges sooner rather than later because the cost and time for maintenance repairs only increases as time goes on.
