According To Survey Road Conditions Have Improved

According to the Reason Foundation’s Annual Report, road conditions across the country have generally improved in 11 categories including pavement condition, urban traffic congestion and deficient bridges. The study’s is based on data states reported to the federal government in 2009. This is the most recent year with full spending statistics available.

The 11 categories measured in this report included pavement condition on urban and rural interstates, urban traffic congestion, deficient bridges, unsafe narrow lanes, traffic fatalities, total spending per mile of state roads and administrative costs per mile. There was small progress nationwide on every category except for pavement condition on rural arterial roads.

Even though there have been improvements states such as New Jersey and California are still plagued with problems. New Jersey spends 1.2 million per mile on state controlled roads while California spends the next biggest amount at $679,00 per mile. More than 16% of urban state pavement in each of those states is in poor condition. Only Hawaii ranks worse with 27% of its urban interstate pavement rated as poor.

California’s other issue is traffic congestion. 80 % of the states urban interstates are congested. Minnesota has the next highest percentage of congestion as 78 % of the urban interstates are deemed congested.

As far as overall ratings of all states in terms of road conditions and cost effectiveness, North Dakota has the country’s top ranked state controlled road system followed by Kansas and Wyoming. The lowest ranked state was Alaska, preceeded by Rhode Island and Hawaii. A complete list of state ranks is attached below :

1. North Dakota
2. Kansas
3. Wyoming
4. New Mexico
5. Montana
6. Nebraska
7. South Carolina
8. Missouri
9. South Dakota
10. Mississippi
11. Texas
12. Georgia
13. Oregon
14. Kentucky
15. Virginia
16. Nevada
17. Idaho
18. New Hampshire
19. North Carolina
20. Delaware
21. Tennessee
22. Indiana
23. Arizona
24. Washington
25. Ohio
26. Utah
27. Alabama
28. Vermont
29. Maine
30. Michigan
31. Wisconsin
32. West Virginia
33. Iowa
34. Illinois
35. Louisiana
36. Arkansas
37. Florida
38. Oklahoma
39. Pennsylvania
40. Maryland
41. Colorado
42. Minnesota
43. Massachusetts
44. Connecticut
45. New York
46. New Jersey
47. California
48. Hawaii
49. Rhode Island
50. Alaska

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