How bad are the states roads and bridges? A new website lets drivers take a virtual tour to see some of the worst and send photos to friends and lawmakers on social media to raise awareness of the problem.
Consider the N.J. Alliance for Action's new "On the Road in NJ" website the transportation version of scared straight.
It's 1,000 photos of cracked concrete, protruding rusty metal pieces and patched and pockmarked pavement are designed to do just that -- make drivers think about the condition of the roads and bridges they're traveling over. If that isn't frightening enough, among the photos are one collapsed bridge and two relying on wooden support structures.
The On The Road in NJ website went live on Tuesday and was previewed at the Alliance's annual Transportation Conference. It allows visitors to Tweet and post photos on Facebook, Instagram and other social media and has links to photo bomb your legislator with an e-mailed copy of bad bridges, road craters and bumper to bumper congestion.
"People have to make the connection that this is in my town," said Philip Beachem, executive director of the Alliance for Action, which lobbies for transportation infrastructure projects. "This is an important issue to everyone who travels around the state."
Short of running tours, transportation officials and advocacy organizations have struggled with how to get the message about the deteriorating condition of roads, bridges and transit infrastructure to the public.
"We're building a social media army. This is how people communicate, short and simple," Beachem said. "Reports (about bridge and road conditions) mean nothing, if we can't show them in a few seconds (through) a photo."
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While the website doesn't directly address that the state Transportation Trust Fund runs out of money in July, Beachem and other officials said it is designed to show why it needs to be reauthorized with new revenue sources.
"If it is reauthorized, some of that money in the bridge program will be for counties," said Peter Palmer, Somerset County freeholder, noting that many of the photos are of county bridges. "Now, they are the county's responsibility."