From Reason Foundation

We often hear the nation’s infrastructure is crumbling, but state highway conditions are the best they’ve been in 19 years, according to Reason Foundation’s 19th Annual Highway Report.  Unfortunately, the recession is partly responsible for the improvement in road conditions: people are driving less which has helped slow pavement deterioration and reduced traffic congestion and fatalities. 

The annual Reason Foundation study measures the condition and cost-effectiveness of state-owned roads in 11 categories, including deficient bridges, urban traffic congestion, fatality rates, pavement condition on urban and rural Interstates and on major rural roads, and the number of unsafe narrow rural lanes. National performance in all of those key areas improved in 2008, the most recent year with complete data available.

Drivers in California, Minnesota, Maryland, Michigan and Connecticut are stuck in the worst traffic. Over 65 percent of all urban Interstates are congested in each of those five states. But nationally, the percentage of urban Interstates that are congested fell below 50 percent for the first time since 2000, when congestion standards were revised.

Motorists in California and Hawaii have to look out for the most potholes on urban Interstates. In those two states, 25 percent of urban interstate pavement is in poor condition. Alaska and Rhode Island have the bumpiest rural pavement, each with about 10 percent in poor condition.  However, nationally, pavement conditions on urban Interstates are the best they’ve been since 1993, and rural primary roads are the smoothest they’ve been since 1993 also.

Rhode Island has the most troubled bridges in the country, with over 53 percent of bridges deficient. For comparison, just 10 percent of top-ranked Nevada’s bridges are rated deficient.  Across the country, over 141,000 (23.7 percent) of America’s bridges were structurally deficient or functionally obsolete in 2008, the lowest percentage since 1984.

With the recession reducing driving, and engineering improving road design and car safety features, traffic fatalities have steadily fallen to the lowest levels since the 1960s. Massachusetts has the safest roads with just 0.67 fatalities per 100 million miles driven. Montana and Louisiana have the highest fatality rates, at 2.12 and 2.02 fatalities per million miles driven. 

Overall, North Dakota, Montana and Kansas have the most cost-effective state highway systems. Rhode Island, Alaska, California, Hawaii and New York have the least cost-effective roads.

The state's detailed results in highway performance and cost-effectiveness

Hawaii

• Overall Rank in 2008 47

• Overall Rank in 2007 46

• Overall Rank in 2006 47

• Overall Rank in 2005 46

• Overall Rank in 2000 48

Hawaii ranks 47th in the nation in state highway performance and cost-effectiveness, falling one spot from last year’s report. Hawaii ranks 46th in total highway disbursements, 12th in fatalities, 48th in deficient or functionally obsolete bridges and 36th in urban Interstate congestion. Hawaii’s best rankings come in rural Interstate condition (1st), fatality rates (12th), and urban Interstate congestion (36th). Hawaii’s lowest rankings are in state-controlled highway miles (50th) and urban Interstate condition (50th). Hawaii’s complete results:

Performance by Category in 2008  Rank 

• State-Controlled Highway Miles  50 

• State Highway Agency Miles  37 

• Total Disbursements  46 

• Capital and Bridge Disbursements  46 

• Maintenance Disbursements  42 

• Administrative Disbursements  45 

• Rural Interstate Condition  1 

• Rural Other Principal Arterial Condition  48 

• Urban Interstate Condition  50 

• Urban Interstate Congestion  36 

• Deficient or Functionally Obsolete Bridges  48 

• Fatality Rates  12 

• Narrow Rural Lanes  46

The full 19th Annual Highway Report and other states' rankings are here.