For everyone from politicians to engineers to road builders, a groundbreaking for a new highway tends to be a lot more alluring than plugging a pothole. And that mindset continues to play out in states' spending priorities, a new study suggests. Between 2009 and 2011, states invested an average of $20.4 billion per year on building new roads or adding lanes -- almost one-quarter more than the $16.5 billion annually dedicated to road repairs and preservation, according to the analysis by Smart Growth America and Taxpayers for Common Sense. Although the spread between those two numbers narrowed in comparison with the 2004-2008 time frame, it persisted even as the amount of road rated in good condition dropped from 41 percent to 37 percent and the amount in poor condition rose from 17 percent to 21 percent between 2008 and 2011, the study says.
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