Report: Deficient Roads Cost Miss. Drivers $2 Billion A Year

JACKSON, Miss. (WCBI) — Mississippi Economic Council officials are speaking out about road condition problems plaguing the state.

A report released Wednesday by TRIP, a national transportation organization, says deficient, congested roads are costing Mississippi drivers more than $2 billion a year.

The report also shows 22 percent of major local and state maintained roads are in poor condition, and 42 percent are in fair condition.

20 percent of bridges in the Magnolia State are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.

To help fix these problems, MEC says the state needs $375 million a year in new revenue.

TRIP says the costs for drivers will only go up, and the quality of life will suffer, if the funding doesn’t increase.