Indiana Rural Roads and Bridges: The Crumbling Reality and What it will Take to Mend These Critical Economic Arteries

Abstract

Nearly $6.4 billion. That’s how much it would cost to bring all of Indiana’s rural roads up to an acceptable level and to repair or replace all of Indiana’s functionally obsolete or structurally deficient bridges. The number is nearly triple the state’s financial reserves. It’s quadruple the amount of new money legislators injected into the road funding formulas during the General Assembly’s 2016 session. It’s an enormous amount of money, yet for a state that rightly calls itself the Crossroads of America, the investment is necessary to ensure Indiana’s farmers and all who make a living in agriculture have a route to continued economic strength.