MPO update finds bridge trouble; accident rate falls
BUSINESS RECORD STAFF Sep 21, 2015 | 8:15 pm
1 min read time
184 wordsAll Latest News, TransportationA new report by the Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization has found that bridges in the area have deteriorated since last year, and accident rates have climbed in low-income areas.
The MPO’s report was aimed in part at assessing progress on improving conditions in “environmental justice areas,” largely those with higher populations of racial minorities and low-income families.
The report found that the percentage of bridges considered deficient has climbed since the November 2014 release of MPO’s “Mobilizing Tomorrow report.” The percentage rose to 28 percent from 20 percent last year in the environmental justice areas. In other parts of the MPO’s jurisdiction, the percentage climbed to 26 percent from 23 percent.
The number of fatal vehicle crashes rose in the environmental justice areas, but fell elsewhere. On the other hand, the number of vehicle crashes resulting in serious injuries dropped across the area.
In the next four years, about 24 percent of the money spent on transportation construction projects will be in or near environmental justice areas. Fifteen percent of area residents live in those neighborhoods, which cover 4 percent of the land area.
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