Report: Oklahoma's Rural Roads And Bridges In Bad Shape

Russell Hulstine, NewsOn6.com

WASHINGTON -- A national organization says 23 percent of Oklahoma's rural bridges were rated as structurally deficient in 2010.

The report comes from TRIP, a national non-profit transportation research group in Washington, D.C.

An additional six percent of the state's rural bridges were functionally obsolete. 

Concerning rural roads, 30 percent of major rural roads in the state were rated in mediocre or fair condition. Both are the third highest rate in the U.S. 

When it comes to traffic fatalities, the TRIP report says traffic crashes and fatalities on Oklahoma's rural roads remain disproportionately high.

The traffic fatality rate on the state's rural, non-Interstate roads was the twelfth highest in the nation. In 2009, Oklahoma's non-Interstate rural roads had a traffic fatality rate of 2.71 deaths for every 100 million vehicle miles of travel compared to a fatality rate on all other roads of 0.96 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles of travel. 

TRIP's website has the copy of the report.