Neglected Bay Area roads deemed worst in nation

Roads in the Bay Area were the worst in the nation and accounted for high costs to drivers in 2016, according to a report released by a national nonprofit Wednesday.

Staffers at The Road Information Program (TRIP), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit focused on transportation issues, used highway data to rank more than 100 urban areas that they say have the worst roads.

The region defined as the San Francisco-Oakland urban area, meaning those two cities and others in the surrounding area, came out on top of that list. The report says 71 percent of major roads in that area are in poor repair, according to pavement data from the Federal Highway Administration.

Because of that, drivers in the area lost on average more than $1,000 annually when their vehicles depreciated, needed maintenance and used more fuel.

San Jose, another Bay Area city, ranked second in the nation in the TRIP report with 64 percent of roads in bad shape. The average San Jose driver lost $983 annually, according to the report.

Bay Area cities also topped a similar list of mid-sized urban areas. The area of Antioch was first with 57 percent of roads in poor condition, according to TRIP. A close second was Concord at 56 percent.

Metropolitan Transportation Commission spokesman John Goodwin said the MTC is responsible for some of the roads surveyed in the report. The others are managed by Caltrans.

Goodwin said that in general, California roads need work:

“All around the Bay Area, really all around California, we have streets, roads and highways that are suffering from years of neglect.”

A year-old gas tax has been helping pump more money into road maintenance, but there’s still a ways to go, Goodwin said. The tax itself is also in danger of repeal via Proposition 6 on the state’s Nov. 6 ballot.

TRIP used data from 2016 because it was the most recently available, according to the report.

The nonprofit is sponsored by insurance agencies, equipment makers and labor unions, among others, according to its website. The full report is viewable on their site.