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AAA Northern New England
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Action Alerts
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Other Resources
- www.mbtaonline.org
Maine Better Transportation Association
- www.state.me.us/mdot
Maine Department of Transportation
- www.nh.gov/dot
New Hampshire Department of Transportation
- www.aot.state.vt.us
Vermont Agency of Transportation
Northern New England Transportation Infrastructure Facts.
AAA Northern New England would like to extend a special thanks to John Melrose and Paul Lariviere, policy advisors to the Maine Better Transportation Association, for their assistance with researching and compiling the following content. The following charts and graphs will give you a detailed description of how your state compares with the other states in our region and within the country. Scroll over each chart to magnify it for easier viewing.
Generally, bridges in service today were designed with a 50 year life expectancy. With adequate maintenance and periodic rehabilitation, bridges last longer than this 50 year design life but have a practical life span, like people, of around 80 years. Eventually bridges must be replaced or face load (weight) restrictions and ultimately closure. All bridges twenty feet or longer must be thoroughly inspected at least once every two years. It is common for bridges in poor condition to be inspected more frequently. The age distribution of Northern New England bridges suggests a need to pick up the pace of bridge replacement.
Age Distribution of Bridges as a % of Inventory
Age Distribution of Bridges as a % of Inventory
The percentage of a State’s highway system that has narrow lanes of 10 feet wide or less, is an indicator of the extent highway rehabilitation is needed to meet modern design standards. Current design standards require highways to be built with lanes at least 11 feet and preferably 12 feet wide. There are situations, especially in urban settings, that justify using slightly narrower lanes but on higher speed roads narrow lanes result in reduced safety and higher crash rates. A highway that is deficient in width is likely to have other deficiencies like poor drainage, excessive crowning, rutting, gravel shoulders or no shoulders and poor pavement conditions. None of the Northern New England states have significantly reduced the number of poorly designed roads over the last ten years. New Hampshire has bragging rights to having more of its roads meeting modern design standards than its sister states and the nation overall.
Percentage of Federal-aid System with Narrow Lanes (10' or less)
Percentage of Federal-aid System with Narrow Lanes (10' or less)
The ultimate test for the overall condition of our highway system is a “seat of the pants” test – how well does the road ride. This graph uses State measured pavement condition data to show percent of Federal-aid highways rated as having poor pavement conditions. The Federal-aid highways tend to be the more heavily used roads in a State that connect communities or serve as principal arterials. The chart reveals that New Hampshire consistently has better pavement conditions than the nation while Vermont has recently achieved a status close to New Hampshire. Maine was doing well in the nineties but recently has been rated as worse than the national average.
Percentage of Pavement in Poor Condition
Percentage of Pavement in Poor Condition
A key performance measure of our highway system is the fatality rate. The number of fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled is a nationally accepted rate. In this one indicator, all of the states in Northern New England perform better than the nation as a whole.
Number of Highway Fatalities per 100 Million Vehicle Miles
Number of Highway Fatalities per 100 Million Vehicle Miles
Miscellaneous Facts for AAA Magazine Article
| Category | National | Maine | New Hampshire | Vermont |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State Owned Roads as a Percent of Public Road Mileage |
19.45% | 37.49% | 25.53% | 18.30% |
| FY 2006 Apportioned Federal-aid Highway Funds | $31,229,272,000 | $148,767,000 | $152,686,000 | $136,684,000 |
| Federal-aid Highway Funds per State Owned Mile | $40,179 | $17,402 | $38,412 | $51,892 |
| Percent of Bridges Eligible for Federal BRRP Funding | 25.78% | 34.45% | 31.71% | 34.65% |
These facts on Northern New England State highways allow comparisons between these States and the Nation.
- State Owned Roads as a Percent of Public Road Mileage shows what share of public road mileage, which includes all owners of roads in a State – toll authorities, state, county and municipal, the State is responsible for maintaining. The State of Maine maintains the highest percentage of public road miles while Vermont maintains the lowest percentage.
- The amount of Apportioned Federal-aid Highway funds a State receives is determined by the federal law, currently known as SAFETY-LU, a five year bill due to expire in 2009. The three states receive roughly the same amount of federal support.
- Federal support goes further if there are fewer miles to maintain. Federal aid to Vermont per mile of state maintained road is three times higher than Maine’s rate even though Vermont receives somewhat less overall aid from the federal government. This is largely due to the fact that Vermont State Government chooses to support a smaller percent of the overall public road system than Maine.
- Lastly, for a bridge to be eligible under the Federal Bridge Rehabilitation and Replacement Program it must be either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Functionally obsolete means that while a bridge might be structurally sound it may be too narrow, have an insufficient shoulder width, have an inadequate overhead clearance or some other such functional deficiency.
Roadway Deficiency Index
Roadway Deficiency Index
The Roadway Deficiency Index was calculated for the Maine Development Foundation’s Annual Report “Measures of Growth”. The Index is the combined total of the percent of State highways with Narrow Lanes, the percent with Poor Pavement Conditions and the percent of bridges rated structurally deficient. This Index is intended as an overall measure of the condition of a State’s highway system. While Vermont tracks the national trend line, New Hampshire consistently outperforms the nation while Maine in recent years has become much worse than the nation.
