Road study: Smoother rides more likely in Florida, Bay area

Traffic might be a bummer, but at least the roads are in good shape.

A national study says Florida's roads are better than those in most other states and notes the Bay area ranked third in urban areas with more than 500,000 people for percentage of roads in "good condition."

"Certainly the absence of freeze and thaw cycles is to Florida's advantage," said Frank Moretti, a researcher at The Road Information Program, which performed the study with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

Three Florida metro areas grabbed the nation's top spots. Tampa-St. Petersburg was behind Jacksonville and Orlando in percentage of roads in good shape, or free of potholes and jarring bumps and cracks, the study said. Jacksonville and Orlando rated 69 percent and 68 percent, respectively. Tampa-St Petersburg came in at 67 percent.

The association says the nation's roads and bridges are deteriorating rapidly and fixing them will cost $166 billion a year through 2015, significantly higher than the $78 billion invested nationally in 2006.

The 40 page-report comes as Congress takes up a six-year transportation funding bill this year.

Wear and tear from increased traffic - especially by heavy trucks - deferred maintenance, harsh weather and soaring construction costs are chief culprits for the decline.

Urban areas are particularly hard hit, where one in four roads is in poor shape. Some cities, such Los Angeles and San Francisco, report more than 60 percent of their roads at the bottom rung.

The study uses ratings from each state of "poor," "mediocre," "fair" and "good" to discern conditions on city, county and state highways. Vehicles with sensors determined the roads' smoothness. Construction zones were not included.

Florida tied for third with Montana (76 percent) for roads in good shape, behind Georgia (92 percent) and Nevada (81 percent).

The nationwide average was 51 percent in good shape.

A third of the nation's roads are in poor or mediocre condition, the study showed.