CAPE CORAL, Fla. — You rely on the paved roads that run throughout Southwest Florida, but those same roads suffer from normal wear and tear throughout the year.
With the vast number of bridges in Florida, some are now being classified as structurally deficient. Over 3 percent of all bridges in the state are marked with poor condition, according to the American Road and Transportation Builder Association.
"We consider a poor bridge to be anything that has been rated by a local Department of Transportation as a bridge that needs to be repaired or needs to have some sort of structural," Nick VinZant, the senior research analyst at QuoteWizard, said.
The bridge on Del Prado Blvd. has been classified as structurally deficient, but that doesn't mean you should worry.
"It just means that this is a piece of infrastructure that is nearing the end of its lifetime and it needs to be repaired or replaced," VinZant said.
That bridge on Del Prado that runs over Lido Canal is the 6th most traveled bridge with the structurally deficient classification. It has around 43,000 recorded daily crossings.
The passing of the largest infrastructure investment by President Joe Biden could bring repairs to Southwest Florida.
"That could go a long way towards improving the infrastructure," VinZant said.
Florida looks to receive around $245 billion for bridge replacements.
Aged roadways also cause immediate damage to your car.
"We found that bad roads cost drivers an extra $351 every year and the reason for that is when you have a bad road, it does more wear and tear to your car and you spend more time, wasting gasoline and time in traffic," VinZant said.
With federal dollars coming, it could go a long way in solving roadways problems in Southwest Florida.
