A study of North Carolina’s roadways, released Tuesday, estimates that deficient roads and bridges in the Wilmington area cost each area driver $1,350 per year. Statewide, the cost to drivers of a fraying transportation infrastructure is $6.5 billion annually in wasted time, fuel and car repairs.
 
The report, "North Carolina Transportation by the Numbers: Meeting the State’s Need for Safe and Efficient Mobility," was produced by TRIP, a Washington, D.C.-based national transportation research group. It calls for more transportation infrastructure investment at the local, state and federal levels to relieve traffic congestion, improve road and bridge conditions, increase safety and, ultimately, support the state’s long-term economic growth.
 
In calculating the annual $1,350 Wilmington-area cost per driver, the researchers added $461 in extra vehicle operating costs stemming from driving on roads in need of repair; $360 in lost time and wasted fuel due to congestion-related delays; and $532 in damage from vehicle crashes likely caused by roadway features.
 
According to a news release from TRIP summarizing its report, “a total of 48 percent of major roads in the Wilmington urban area are in either poor or mediocre condition, costing the average Wilmington motorist an additional $461 each year in extra vehicle operating costs, including accelerated vehicle depreciation, additional repair costs, and increased fuel consumption and tire wear. Traffic congestion in the area is worsening, causing 18 annual hours of delay for the average Wilmington motorist and costing each driver $360 annually in lost time and wasted fuel.”

At a news conference Tuesday to publicize the report, Danny McComas added his own take on the report's warning about the dire condition of federal transportation funds and how that will affect the Wilmington area.

"We used to be known as the Good Roads State, but we don't hear that anymore," said McComas, owner of Wilmington-based MCO Transport Inc. and chairman of the N.C. State Ports Authority. "We have fallen behind, and [the situation] is only going to be magnified in our corner of the state when summer travel begins."

McComas also added sobering statistics from his perspective as a trucking company owner whose trucks carry freight to and from ports in the Southeast.

"It's 202 miles from Charleston [S.C.] to Charlotte, and there are no stoplights on that route. It's 201 miles from Wilmington to Charlotte, and there are a lot of stoplights," he said. "Trucks burn a whole lot less fuel traveling from [the port of] Charleston to Charlotte than they do from Wilmington to Charlotte. And all but the last 30 miles from Charleston to Charlotte is in South Carolina, so those trucks are paying fuel taxes in South Carolina rather than in North Carolina."
 
Wilmington’s estimated per-driver costs were the second-highest in the state, behind Charlotte’s, which topped $1,500 per year, the release stated. Asheville’s per-driver costs, at $950, were the lowest of the state’s metropolitan areas, while those in the Triangle, $1,005, and the Piedmont Triad, $1,069, were roughly equal.
 
At the news conference, Will Wilkins, executive director of TRIP, said that throughout North Carolina, 11 percent of major roads and highways are in poor condition and that nearly one-third of North Carolina bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.

He explained that the state’s major urban roads are becoming increasingly congested, with drivers wasting significant amounts of time and fuel each year. He mentioned also that North Carolina’s rural non-interstate traffic fatality rate is nearly four times higher than the fatality rate on all other roads in the state. In general, Wilkins said, North Carolina's traffic accident rate is higher than the national average.

Wilkins warned that, unless Congress acts soon to increase revenues to the Highway Account of the federal Highway Trust Fund, its balance will drop below $1 billion as early as this summer. That fact, and plans by some in Congress to slash funding for the Highway Trust Fund, could cost North Carolina about $1 billion in highway and transit monies.
 
The TRIP report was released in conjunction with the N.C. Chamber Foundation.