Sacramento Roadways Ranked Among Worst In Nation In TRIP Report

Sacramento’s roads and highways are some of the worst in the nation, according to a new report by TRIP, a national nonprofit that rates road conditions.

TRIP, which is sponsored by insurance companies, labor union and construction and engineering groups, says that one third of the nation’s major urban roadways are in poor condition.

The Bay Area has the worst highways and roads in the country, followed by the San Jose and Los Angeles areas, according to the report. Sacramento was ranked 12th, with TRIP saying that 41 percent of the city’s major roadways are in poor shape.

TRIP’s Carolyn Kelly co-authored the report. She says that Sacramento’s cruddy roads cost drivers $754 a year.

"So that's the cost of additional repairs and maintenance that you may have to make if you hit a pothole,” she said. “It's also the cost of accelerated depreciation and increased tire wear and less efficient fuel consumption."

Sacramento was ranked 14th in the nation for vehicle operating costs in the report. The Bay Area, San Jose and Milwaukee were the cities with the highest costs.

The current backlog in needed road and highway rehabilitation in the U.S. is $420 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled Carolyn Kelly's name. It has been corrected.