Highways and Bridges
The Delaware Valley region is served by a highway system that includes numerous Interstate highways and other freeways, as well as major toll facilities. In addition, thousands of bridges carry these roads over rivers, railroads, ravines, and other roads.
Highways
The 9-county DVRPC region has over 23,000 miles of roads, which experience more than 110 million vehicle miles of travel (VMT) each day. This roadway network includes 512 miles of Interstates and expressways that carry over one third of the total VMT on just 2 percent of the roads.
PA Counties VMT
| Year | Bucks | Chester | Delaware | Montgomery | Philadelphia |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 12926.8 | 10920.8 | 9321.6 | 17866 | 15177.5 |
| 2001 | 13291.8 | 11172.3 | 9666.5 | 18252.5 | 15551.9 |
| 2002 | 13487.3 | 11652.7 | 9746 | 18675.1 | 15774.8 |
| 2003 | 13623.7 | 11759.6 | 9880.5 | 18997.2 | 16107.1 |
| 2004 | 13665.4 | 11744.7 | 9989.2 | 19095.9 | 16129.2 |
| 2005 | 13696.1 | 11832 | 10180.6 | 19109.5 | 16316.4 |
| 2006 | 13637.1 | 11998.6 | 10265.2 | 19241.5 | 16405.4 |
| 2007 | 13841.6 | 12125.8 | 10322.7 | 19392.4 | 16378 |
| 2008 | 13,744.2 | 12,075.7 | 10,357.5 | 18,849.0 | 16,308.6 |
NJ Counties VMT
| Year | Burlington | Camden | Gloucester | Mercer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 12170.9 | 10684 | 6615.8 | 8247.4 |
| 2001 | 12485.9 | 10631.4 | 6937.7 | 8435.9 |
| 2002 | 12582.2 | 10542.9 | 6955.9 | 8567.3 |
| 2003 | 12720.9 | 10434.8 | 7221.8 | 8914.1 |
| 2004 | 13009.2 | 10629.7 | 7302.3 | 9384.2 |
| 2005 | 13365.5 | 10855.2 | 7430.7 | 9488.2 |
| 2006 | 13197 | 11295.8 | 7498.4 | 9804.7 |
| 2007 | 12887 | 11205 | 7460 | 9769.5 |
| 2008 | 12,211.1 | 10,958.3 | 7,376.9 | 9,336.3 |
Bridges
Major River Crossings
The bridges that cross the region's major rivers, the Delaware and the Schuylkill, provide vital connectivity for our citizens and our commerce. Because of the limited number of crossings, these bridges carry significant traffic. While some are owned and maintained by special authorities, most are the responsibility of the State department of transportation.
Bridge Condition
Maintaining the region's bridges has become a top priority of DVRPC, our state DOT partners, and member counties.
The region's efforts to repair and/or replace its deteriorated bridges consumes a very significant portion of both the TIP and the Long Range Plan.
The collapse of the bridge in Minnesota and structural failures on our own facilities have led to shifts in human and capital resources. The Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA) requires states to maintain a database of bridges that are over 20 feet in length and to assess their condition at least every two years.
The assessment is conducted in the field and gives ratings for various components of the bridge. If certain components get a low rating, the bridge is considered
structurally deficient, meaning its condition is sufficiently deterioriated to warrent reconstruction or replacement using federal funds. It does not mean the bridge
is unsafe; if it were, it would be either posted with a weight limit or closed altogether.
In the Pennsylvania portion of our region, nearly 600 bridges are structurally deficient out of the 2,700 in the federal database.
In our New Jersey area, there are 390 structurally deficient bridges out of 1,190 in the database.