Listed in Administration
Every year, municipalities are required to submit updates to their local road inventory to the state - and for good reason. While it may feel like a mundane paperwork task, this inventory plays a vital role in everything from road funding to infrastructure planning, at both the state and federal level.
Let’s break it down.
Why Keep a Road Inventory?
At its core, a road inventory is just a detailed record of every public road in a municipality; paved and unpaved, owned and maintained by the town, county, or state. It includes mileage, road type, surface condition, and sometimes additional details like traffic volumes or number of lanes.
But this isn’t just for local bragging rights. Keeping this information up to date is essential for:
- Securing state and federal funding: A town’s mileage directly affects how much funding it receives for road maintenance and improvement projects. If you don’t report a new subdivision road, the town may miss out on future funding tied to its upkeep.
- Planning and budgeting: Town boards and highway departments use this data to plan resurfacing projects, prioritize drainage improvements, and track aging infrastructure.
- Compliance with state and federal programs: Programs like the Federal Highway Administration’s Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) rely on this data. States submit local road information to help the federal government analyze national road trends, prioritize transportation spending, and shape infrastructure policy.
What Happens to the Data?
Once submitted, the state DOT rolls your updated road inventory into their master highway database. From there, it may be used to:
Support grant applications from municipalities or regional planning agencies
Assist in traffic studies and safety evaluations
Identify infrastructure gaps and prioritize rural or underserved areas for improvement
Plan emergency response routes and resiliency improvements in the event of floods or storms
And when it comes to long-term strategy, state and federal agencies need accurate data to make informed decisions about where—and how—to invest transportation dollars.
What Happens If It’s Not Updated?
If your town skips an update or under-reports mileage, it could lose out on funding or fall out of compliance with state reporting requirements. Over time, inaccurate records can lead to roads being left off maps, missing out on routine maintenance funding, or even complicating future development plans.
Maintaining your local road inventory might not feel glamorous, but it’s one of the most important things your town can do to keep its infrastructure funded, functional, and future-ready. So when that annual inventory update rolls around, it’s worth giving it the attention it deserves. Your roads and your budget depend on it.