Traffic maneuvers through a road construction zone in Clinton. A recent assessment by a civil engineers association gave Utah roads a B-plus grade, the highest in the Utah infrastructure report card. (Brice Wallace/Salt Lake Business Journal)
Utah’s infrastructure has received one of the highest grades in the U.S. but needs improvement to meet the state’s future population growth.
That is the assessment of the Utah section of the American Society of Civil Engineers in an every-four-years report card on the state’s infrastructure. Utah’s overall C-plus grade was unchanged from 2020. The new state report follows a national report card released in March that also gave Utah a C-plus grade, a notch above the national C grade.
“A C-plus means our infrastructure is meeting the needs of Utahns but there is still room for improvement,” said Craig Friant, the Utah section’s report card chair. The ASCE has 160,000 members nationwide, including more than 1,600 in Utah.
Utah’s C-plus is the highest grade the ASCE has given a state’s overall infrastructure. Utah joins only Georgia and Wisconsin with C-plus grades. “This is a sign we’re doing things well in Utah,” Friant said.
The national report card’s C grade for the U.S. is the highest grade since the report card series started in 1998.
“While we know we can do better, positive steps have been taken in recent years, particularly with record levels of federal investments in our built environment,” said Lingkun Li, president of the Utah section, adding that the new state assessment speaks to Utah’s unique characteristics, trends and challenges.
“Reliable infrastructure is a backbone of Utah’s economy,” he added. “When our infrastructure is working, it is typically out of sight and out of mind.” But Utah infrastructure troubles can have major consequences to public health, safety and welfare and can jeopardize economic growth, “and we need to do everything possible to prevent future disruptions,” he said.
Overwhelmed infrastructure can take the form of water mains breaking and shutting down businesses, or load restrictions forcing cargo trucks on long detours, he said.
Common themes seen in the report involve population growth, increasing severe and frequent environmental threats, and water supply concerns. “Each of these factors are having major impacts on our infrastructure, which has faced funding gaps over the last few decades,” Friant said.
Population growth is pushing infrastructure systems to their limits, and those systems are vulnerable to both natural and manmade threats. While Utah has high grades, “expanding or improving assets must remain a top priority,” he said.
Of the categories assessed, aviation (C-plus) was the only one to show improvement from 2020’s C grade, thanks mostly to improvements at Salt Lake City International Airport. Bridges, stormwater and transit saw decreases but were nonetheless significantly higher than the national category grades.
Other Utah grades are:
• Roads, B-plus. Friant said 95 percent of Utah roads are in good or fair condition, mostly due to funding and intensive planning.
• Bridges, B, down from B-plus in 2020. Utah has a lower percentage of bridges in good condition compared with 2020, while the percentage in fair or poor condition rose. Utah still was ahead of the national averages. But if the state does not speed its bridge construction, it would take more than a century at the current pace to replace all existing bridges in Utah.
• Transit, B-minus, which is leaps and bounds” ahead of the national’s D grade but below Utah’s B-plus of 2020. Utah’s eight transit agencies provide access to 95 percent of the state population, the highest rate in the nation. “Overall, more investment and a focus on resilience will help the transportation categories, but they’re in great shape compared to the rest of the nation,” he said.
• Drinking water: B-minus, which Friant called “another great grade.” But most of the state’s pipelines are more than 50 years old. The EPA estimates water infrastructure needs will exceed $38 billion by 2060.
• Wastewater systems: C, with a need to expand to meet expected demand over the next 40 years.
• Levees, D-minus, with most at least 60 years old.
• Canals, D-plus, with most built in the 1800s. “These are systems that protect households and businesses from flooding,” Friant said of levees and canals, “but we don’t know their condition, in many cases, which is a major public safety hazard.”
• Dams, C-plus.
• Hazardous waste, C-plus.
• Solid waste, B-minus.
• Stormwater, C.
The Utah section has several recommendations, mostly tied to increased government funding. Ongoing analysis is needed to plan for Utah’s future growth, aging bridges should have prioritized funding, water systems should collaborate with state agencies and other stakeholders to ensure the Great Salt Lake is restored to healthy conditions, and more funding is needed to improve dam safety, it said. Rehabbing all dams could take 50 years.
Friant noted that the report card is a snapshot of infrastructure conditions and focuses on systems. “These grades are not a reflection on the people who work hard every day to operate and maintain those systems and have done incredible work with the resources made available to them,” he said.
The full report is available at https://infrastructurereportcard.org/state-item/utah/.
The week the report card was released, Gov. Spencer Cox signed an executive order launching the BUILD Coordinating Council, which will bring together state agencies to streamline efforts, align long-range planning, and make the most of shared opportunities. The council will work to meet growing demands for housing, transportation, water, energy, open space, recreation and air quality, while preserving the exceptional quality of life Utahns value, the governor said.
“As Utah evolves, everything from water use to transportation is affected,” Cox said. “This council will help us combine efforts and make better decisions to maintain the quality of life that makes Utah exceptional.”