BOSTON — Poor infrastructure in Massachusetts is costing time and money when it comes to traffic, experts say.
Bad road conditions slow drivers down and cut off alternate routes when crews are out doing the necessary work to fix them, which worsens the state's already problematic traffic congestion.
"If you close down a road and if you don't have a proper way of detouring traffic, you are closing down traffic which means you lose time," said Rajib Mallick , a civil and environmental engineering professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute's Pavement Research Lab.
With potholes and cracked asphalt, local roads definitely look like they’ve taken a beating.
“The Mass. Pike is terrible from what I’ve seen. There’s potholes everywhere and then once you get off the Pike, it gets just as bad," a driver at a Natick rest stop, who did not want to be identified, told Boston 25 News.
Deteriorating roads are a real problem in Massachusetts, according to a survey by autoinsurance.org. The survey found 28% of the state's highway conditions are considered poor. That's second only to Rhode Island.
Mallick said the climate in New England is one of the reasons the state's infrastructure has a shorter lifespan. Another issue is the wear and tear from more volume, particularly heavy trucks carrying freight.
Mallick is focused on increasing the durability of the materials used to build roads. "If we can extend the life of pavements, we can decrease the intervals when you need this kind of maintenance and therefore, the tie-ups,” he said. “What we are talking about is probably extending the life to at least 20-30 years.”
Peter Huckins, of Route 1 Automotive & Tire in Plainville, sees a lot of cars that need repairs due to rough roads.
“Quite often I have customers come in with complaints of their alignments off, or their front end is shaking," he said. "A lot of these things are caused by potholes and roads that are in disarray.”
A Jeep with 49,000 miles recently came into the shop and needed four new ball joints. Huckins says this repair, which costs $850, probably wouldn’t have been necessary if the roads were in better shape.
TRIP, a transportation research non-profit, estimates driving on bad roads costs Massachusetts drivers $3.2 billion a year in extra vehicle repairs and operating costs. That comes out to $627 per motorist.
It wasn’t hard to find drivers who’ve paid that kind of bill. One driver told Boston 25 News that he’s had tire problems. Another said her rim was bent last year.
Mallick said some roads are now being built with materials that can last for 50 years. Those can be very cost-prohibitive compared to the traditional materials and techniques that are most commonly used today, however.