LOS ANGELES, 7/2/2013 – As Americans hit the road for the Fourth of July holiday, they’ll be driving on slightly smoother roads, crossing fewer deficient bridges and spending less time stuck in traffic jams, according to the Reason Foundation’s Annual Highway Report.

           

The report measures the condition and cost-effectiveness of state-owned roads in 11 categories, including 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. The study’s rankings are based on data that states reported to the federal government for 2009, the most recent year with full spending statistics available.

           

Nationwide, there was small progress in every category except for pavement condition on rural arterial roads. These improvements were achieved at a time when per-mile expenditures dropped slightly. Despite receiving stimulus funding from the federal government in 2009, spending on state roads decreased slightly, by 0.6 percent, in 2009 compared to 2008.

          

 “It’s hard to believe it when you hit a pothole or see a bridge in Washington collapse, but the nation’s roads are getting better,” said David Hartgen, author of the study and emeritus transportation professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. “There are still several states struggling and plenty of problem areas. But you make the case that overall America’s roads and bridges have never been in better shape.”

           

Among the states plagued with problems are New Jersey and California. New Jersey spends $1.2 million per mile on its state-controlled roads. That’s nearly twice as much as the $679,000 per mile that the next biggest spending state – California – spends. North Carolina, home to the nation’s largest state highway system, spends $44,000 per mile on its roads. South Carolina spends just $31,000, the lowest per mile rate in the nation, according to the Reason Foundation’s study of all 50 state-controlled road systems.

           

Drivers in California and New Jersey may be wondering what they are getting in return for that money. More than 16 percent of urban interstate pavement in each of those states is in poor condition. Only Hawaii ranks worse, with 27 percent of its urban interstate pavement rated as poor.

           

Not only are California’s interstates full of potholes, they are also jammed: 80 percent of the state’s urban interstates are congested. Minnesota has the next highest percentage of gridlocked interstates, with 78 percent of urban interstates deemed congested.

          

 In terms of overall road conditions and cost-effectiveness, North Dakota has the country’s top ranked state-controlled road system, followed by Kansas (second), Wyoming (third), New Mexico (fourth) and Montana (fifth), according to Reason Foundation’s Annual Highway Report.

           

Alaska’s state-controlled road system is the lowest quality and least cost-effective in the nation. Rhode Island (49^th) Hawaii (48^th), California (47^th), New Jersey (46^th) and New York (45^th) also perform poorly.

           

Vermont’s roads showed the most improvement in the nation, improving from 42^nd in the previous report to 28^th in the new overall rankings. New Hampshire (27^th) and Washington (24^th) both improved nine spots in the rankings.

           

Minnesota system plummeted 17 spots in the rankings, from 25^th to 42^nd and Delaware dropped nine spots to 20^th.

           

Massachusetts had the lowest traffic fatality rate, while Montana had the highest.

 

Source: The Trucker News Services

---