The Cost Of Driving On Rough Roads In Nebraska

Picture Nebraska’s roads as a group of old uncles 🧓🧓🧓 at a county fair - mostly fine, a few limping, one loudly arguing with a stop sign, and all of them costing you more and more money to stay healthy. You don’t need a tow truck to fix the problem, you just need to avoid the pothole the size of a small moon! 👀

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Seriously, though, Nebraska's roads are better than most, but there's still a cost to dealing with them. Let's check it out!

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Here are Five Fast Facts on how much Nebraska's roads cost your Paycheck:

1. 🙂 Conditional Positivity - Only 5% of Nebraska’s major roads are in poor condition (with another 20% in fair condition), ranking the state 9th best in the nation. 

2. 🤯 Abridged Repairs - About 7% of Nebraska’s bridges are in poor condition, and 37% of them were built before 1970. But don't worry, it's only a few thousand bridges that need to be fixed or replaced. 👍

3. 💰 Dumping Money - The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (2021) brought about $2 billion to Nebraska for highways and bridges, but it expires this fall. And if you've driven anywhere in Nebraska lately while trying to sip coffee, you know there's still more work to be done!

4. 📈 More And More - The state's population increased by 18% from 1990 to 2013, but the amount of vehicle travel during the same time increased by 38%. 

5. 😖 Your Cost - Despite all of this, rough roads still cost Nebraska drivers from $422-$510 million per year (roughly $290-$374 per driver) in repairs, fuel, and tire damage. Potholes remain undefeated against hubcaps.

🔥Bottom line: It seems like we pay for it in taxes or we pay for it in repairs, but either way it costs us money. The good news is that it could be a whole lot worse, like it is in most other states! Still, like those uncles, with regular care (and funding) hopefully they won't embarrass the family on the drive home.

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Do you have to dodge potholes on your commute?

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