More than 2,500 bridges across Pennsylvania are currently rated as POOR condition. Hundreds of miles of roads are in need of repair. Thousands of Pennsylvania families are dependent on these roads and bridges to get to work, school, doctor appointments, and much more every day. 

As of 2021, PENNDOT was funded at $8.8 billion with an unfunded need of $9.35 Billion. Highway maintenance, operations, repairs, and improvements account for 86% of that unfunded need. In Pennsylvania, the average bridge age is 50 years with a typical life span of approximately 75 years.  We cannot continue down this same road of waiting for an emergency before we take action.

According to a 2019 Auditor’s General report, $4.2 billion has been diverted away the Motor License Fund, and away from repair and upkeep of our roads and bridges since 2011/2012.  This is money that is sorely needed for our crumbling infrastructure. Under the state Constitution, proceeds from the Motor License Fund are to be used solely for the construction, reconstruction, maintenance and repair of and safety on public highways and bridges.

This practice of diverting money from the Motor License Fund to other programs cannot continue. Pennsylvania infrastructure needs maintenance, repair, update and replacement as it ages in order to keep our families and communities safe. 

A recently completed report by engineering firm WSP Global found almost 1 in 5 bridges owned by the city of Pittsburgh had “critical” issues that needed immediate attention.  The report, commissioned by Mayor Ed Gainey in the aftermath of the collapse of the Fern Hollow Bridge on January 28, 2022, was delivered to the Mayor in December of 2022.

Key findings of the report include:

1. 69 bridges with high priority issues that should be fixed within the next six months.

2. 32 bridges in poor condition

3. 54 bridges in fair condition

4. 14 bridges in satisfactory condition

Read the full City Of Pittsburgh Comprehensive Bridge Asset Management Program report

The Pennsylvania Auditor General commissioned a performance audit of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) in 2019.  A key finding of the audit states that PennDOT could be further along in repairing highways and the the more than 2,800 Pennsylvania bridges that are in poor condition than they are today if they had the millions of dollars that have been diverted away from PennDOT.  Other important findings of the report include:

• More than $4.2 billion has been diverted away from the upkeep of roads and bridges since 2011/2012.
• More than 2,800 state-maintained bridges across Pennsylvania are structurally deficient
• The more than $4.2 billion that has been diverted could have cut the list of 2,800 structurally deficient bridges in half.
• Pennsylvania bridges average over 50 years in age.
• Under the state Constitution, proceeds from the Motor License Fund are to be used solely for the construction, reconstruction, maintenance and repair of and safety on public highways and bridges.

Read the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Audit Report