Coronado Bridge Among Many in U.S. Labeled 'Structurally Deficient'

A national transportation group has labeled the San Diego-Coronado Bridge “stucturally deficient,” as part of a warning that structures throughout the country need better upkeep and investment to protect motorists.

Transportation for America is a coalition of business and health interests, among others, that seeks a more modernized transporation system for the country.

According to the group, while the bridge's structure and substructure – the pieces that connect to the ground and hold up the roadway cars cross on – are sound, the roadway itself, the deck, is in need of work.

The group ranks the structures on a scale of 0-9. Anything ranked at a 4 or lower is determined to be deficient, meaning they “require significant maintenance, rehabilitation or replacement.”

The group also found that the connector between state Route 75 and Interstate 5 on Palm Avenue in south San Diego to be structurally deficient. 

The Coronado bridge and the state Route 75 connector are among dozens of structures ranked in San Diego County by the group; enter a zip code or an address in their interactive tool to find other results. 

Everyday bridges and iconic structures are on the nationwide list, reports ABC News; an ABC correspondent, Deborah Roberts said 67,000 have deficiencies.

In addition to the Coronado bridge, the list includes the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, the North LaSalle Street Bridge in Chicago, the Steel Bridge in Portland and the Longfellow Bridge in Boston.

NBC7-San Diego also reported on the transportation group's findings; the complete report available online was released in 2011.

The group advocates for more public funding for transportation. Following President Barack Obama's State of the Union proposal to adopt a “fix-it first” policy regarding the nation's infrastructure, Transportation for America noted a poll in which 86 percent of those queried supported better maintenance for existing roads and bridges rather than building new ones.