Hattiesburg American: Roads, bridges should be priority

From Hattiesburg American: 

If you are one of the 1.8 million drivers in Mississippi, you probably don't think much about the road you travel each day. That is until you hit a pothole, the most common sign of a poor road.  The bad news: Mississippi's roads and bridges today pose far more serious problems than potholes. According to TRIP (The Road Information Program), a nonprofit research organization which gathers technical data on America's transportation system, a growing number of Mississippi's roads and bridges are in dire need of repairs or improvements.  

Motorists cross Mississippi's 17,000 bridges every day - and each time they bet their lives that the bridge will do its job.  TRIP reports that 25 percent of the state's bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. This translates to 4,201 bridges. Bridges must be maintained, upgraded or even replaced when they become outdated or damaged. Safety and comfort are not the only issues.

Poor roads and bridges affect commercial, business and economic interests. At the beginning of last year, 17 percent of Mississippi roads were rated in poor condition and 23 percent rated in mediocre condition.