Performance measure 2
Pavement & Bridges
Performance measure by program area
PM 2: Pavement
Updated January 2023| Performance measures by program area | 4-year targets for 2022 |
4-year actuals for 2022 |
Desired trend |
2-year targets (2023)1 |
4-year targets (2025)1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of interstate pavement on the NHS in good condition | 30% | 46.0% | 🠉 | 30% | 30% |
| Percentage of interstate pavement on the NHS in poor condition | 4% | 1.9 | 🠋 | 4% | 4% |
| Percentage of non-interstate pavement on the NHS in good condition | 18% | 46.8% | 🠉 | 45% | 45% |
| Percentage of non-interstate pavement on the NHS in poor condition | 5% | 4.2% | 🠋 | 5% | 5% |
Source: WSDOT Pavement Office.
Note: Federal rule allows state and MPOs to adjust four-year targets during the mid-performance (2-year) progress report. Targets with desired trends going up should be above the level stated, and down should be below the level stated. 1 Two-year and four-year target periods for PM2 end in calendar years 2023 and 2025 and are reported respectively on October 1, 2024, and October 1, 2026.
Washington's pavement targets remain unchanged
After meeting its pavement condition targets for 2022, WSDOT's 2-year and 4-year performance targets (for 2023 and 2025, respectively) will remain unchanged.
The latest data available for interstate pavement in Washington is from the 2020 and 2021 data collection period (note that 2020 was an unusual collection year in both traffic activity and collection activity for many states due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)
The data for 2021 shows 46.0% of interstate pavement is in good condition and 1.9% is in poor condition (using FHWA criteria). For non-interstate NHS pavement, 46.8% is in good condition and 4.2% is in poor condition. This condition data includes motor vehicle travel lanes only.
Performance in these four areas met all four-year targets set for 2022. As a result, no penalty was incurred for percent of interstate pavement on the National Highway System in poor condition.
Meeting the additional requirement
A separate requirement determined by FHWA is that the percentage of interstate pavement in poor condition cannot exceed 5%. This performance criterion is a special requirement mandated by Congress and is the only pavement performance measure that results in a funding penalty if it is not met. The penalty requires the State to obligate a specified percentage of its National Highway Performance Program (NHPP) and Surface Transportation Program (STP) funds to correct the interstate pavement conditions until the minimum threshold is met.
Actual performance for 2021 was 1.9%. Given the long-term status of aging concrete pavement in addition to planned construction of the interstate, 4% remains a reasonable target for the percentage of interstate pavement in percent poor condition in 2024.
The combination of asphalt and concrete renewal expected in the future should leave the percent good in relatively stable condition, and a reasonable target for interstate percent good remains at 30%.
PM 2: Bridges
Updated January 2023| Performance measures by program area | 4-year targets for 20211 |
4-year actuals for 20211 |
Desired trend |
2-year targets (2023)2 |
4-year targets (2025)2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of NHS bridges classified in good condition3 | >30% | 32.8% | 🠉 | >30% | >30% |
| Percentage of NHS bridges classified in poor condition3 | <10% | 8.8% | 🠋 | <10% | <10% |
Source: WSDOT Bridge and Structures Office.
Notes: Targets with desired trends going up should be above the level stated, and down should be below the level stated. 1 The first reporting period is from 2018-2021 (Oct. 1, 2017 through Sept. 31, 2021 for CMAQ) with data and actuals submitted Dec. 16, 2022. 2 The current two-year target period for PM2 is for calendar years 2022-2023 with data and actuals submitted on October 1, 2024. The current four-year target period for PM3 is for calendar years 2022-2025 with data and actuals submitted on October 1, 2026. 3 Weighted by deck area.
Targets for bridge performance confirmed in December 2022
WSDOT has been proactive in collaborating with Metropolitan Planning Organizations and local agencies (such as cities and counties) with regard to the implementation of federal bridge performance measures for the NHS.
FHWA has set the upper limit for the percentage of all NHS bridges classified in poor condition at 10%. Based on analysis and past trends, WSDOT again adopted this target for the two- and four-year periods for 2022-2023 and 2022-2025. FHWA did not set a limit for the percentage of NHS bridges classified as being in good condition; WSDOT again adopted a target of 30% for the two- and four-year periods based on a thorough review of current bridge conditions.
The condition of individual bridge components (deck, superstructure, substructure), and culverts (which are measured separately), are rated using a classification method from the National Bridge Inventory and the Highway Bridge Program. This classification method assigns the elements and culverts condition ratings ranging from 0 to 9 where 7 or greater = good; 5-6 = fair; and 4 or less = poor. For TPM, bridges in good condition have all three components (deck, superstructure, substructure) rated as 7 or higher; bridges in fair condition meet the minimum threshold of 5 or 6; and poor bridges have some of the components rated as 4 or lower.
The percentage of the total NHS bridge deck area for each classification (good, fair, poor) is calculated as the ratio of the total deck area of NHS bridges in a classification to the total deck area of NHS bridges in the state. The bridge deck condition of a shoulder on a bridge is included in the overall condition rating; it is not tracked or rated for active transportation use separate from the overall bridge deck condition. Sidewalk elements are defined and condition rated but these data are not reported here.
A separate requirement determined by FHWA is that the percent of NHS bridges in poor condition cannot exceed 10%. This performance criterion is a special requirement mandated by U.S. Congress, and is the only bridge performance measure that results in a funding penalty if it is not met. The penalty requires the state to obligate a specified percentage of its National Highway Performance Program funds to correct the NHS bridge conditions until the minimum threshold is met.
Transportation Performance Management reports
WSDOT is working to increase the transparency and accountability about how the agency spends federal taxpayer dollars on transportation infrastructure and services in Washington state to comply with the federal Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) law of 2012, now known as Transportation Performance Management (TPM).
To this end, WSDOT is collaborating with Metropolitan Planning Organizations to achieve targets set by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). FHWA evaluates state transportation systems' performance compared to national goals and enforces minimum requirements, ensuring it distributes federal funds to transportation projects that help the agency achieve these goals.