Bridges and roads in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware may be in better shape than we think.
That's the conclusion of a new study for a 20-year period ending in 2008.
The study by the Reason Foundation found that the percentage of bridges deemed deficient dropped from about 38 percent to about 24 percent nationally. In New Jersey, the percentage fell slightly, from 28.5 percent to 27.4 percent.
Delaware improved in four areas, but none so much as in urban interstate congestion. There the First State improved by 43.9 percent, according to the study.
The study found Pennsylvania improved in six areas. Many of those improvements were incremental, though. The biggest gain was 6.1 percent for improvements in rural interstates.
Highway fatality rates dropped in all 50 states. All three states gained less than a point in this statistic.
The study also found spending per mile on roads grew by 60 percent during the 20-year period, but that future spending must be targeted to be effective.
