WASHINGTON – Roads around the D.C. area are crumbling, according to an infrastructure report card from the American Society of Civil Engineers.
“We need each one of us as Americans to talk to our elected officials at all levels and tell them how important infrastructure is,” said ASCE President Gregory DiLoreto Tuesday morning at the National Press Club in Northwest D.C.
“We do need to bolster investment levels.”
DiLoreto is calling for nearly $4 trillion in investments across the country by 2020.
His group gives the nation’s current infrastructure system a grade of D+.
Locally, the report card on roads is abysmal.
According to the ASCE, 55 percent of roadways in Maryland are in poor or mediocre condition.
In Virginia, that figure is 47 percent.
In D.C., 99 percent of roads are considered poor or mediocre.
DiLoreto says the District is so rocky, it costs drivers $311 million dollars a year in extra vehicle repairs and operating costs.
That is more than $800 per driver.
“There’s a direct link between our economy and an investment in infrastructure,” he says.
