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Local officeholders leading state groups
"We can no longer pat ourselves on the back and smile because we did something as elected officials eight or 10 or 20 years ago. This problem exists today, and it cries out for a solution today," said Clarke County Commissioner Rhondel Rhone, the newly-elected Association president. Speaking at the Association's convention this week, Rhone pledged that county officials will raise public awareness of the "crisis" on Alabama's rural road system. "It is important that state legislators, the governor and the general public join us in our crusade to save lives on Alabama's public roads," he added. "Unless we join together and take the lead on this issue, more people will lose their lives." A total of 331 persons were killed in traffic accidents on county-maintained roads during 2005, which represents 33 percent of all the traffic fatalities in the state. Although the average daily traffic count on Alabama interstate, federal, state and even municipal roads is much greater than on most rural roads, a disproportionate share of the fatal accidents occur in rural Alabama, according to data collected by the University Transportation Center for Alabama. In 2005, more than half of the fatal accidents on the rural road system - resulting in the death of 170 people - were caused by vehicles leaving the road surface. Rhone said this information "should be enough motivation for us and the leaders of our state to address the crisis that exists on our rural roads in Alabama." Counties maintain just more than 96,000 lane miles of roads, while the Alabama Department of Transportation maintains some 28,000 lane miles. Counties address the maintenance needs of these roads with an average of $4,700 per mile in state gasoline tax revenue, while the state receives almost $17,000 per mile in state gasoline tax revenue per lane mile. Counties maintain their road system with a dedicated portion of the state-levied gasoline tax and an annual allocation of $500,000 federal funding, plus any funds generated locally. "Most of Alabama's rural roads were constructed more than 50 years ago during the Folsom Farm-to-Market Road Program," Rhone said, "but about 6,300 miles of those roads do not qualify for federal funds."
"Without any increase in revenue for more than a decade, counties simply have not been able to address the maintenance needs of these roads. We cannot simply close these roads," he continued. "Families live on these roads. Farmers grow crops on these roads. Products are transported on these roads everyday."
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