South Carolina, South Dakota, Kansas Have Most Cost-Effective State Highway Systems, Report Says
While South Carolina and West Virginia spent less than $37,000 per state-controlled mile, New Jersey spent $2,186,447 per mile, almost three times as much as the next highest state — Florida, which spent $741,292 per mile.
“SCDOT appreciates receiving the top ranking in Overall Performance and Cost-Effectiveness,” South Carolina Secretary of Transportation Christy Hall said. “This report is clear evidence of SCDOT being a national leader in doing more with less. We should recognize that spending the least per mile in the nation means that some needs are unmet and deferred maintenance is accumulating rapidly. We reaffirm the agency’s commitment to our citizens to work hard to maintain our highways and bridges and manage our available resources as best we can.”
Nebraska and Maine rounded out the top five while Rhode Island and Massachusetts completed the bottom five.
Alaska Department of Transportation spokesman Jeremy Woodrow noted that his state continually ranks at the bottom of the Reason Foundation’s report.
“Alaska’s transportation system is relatively young compared to the rest of the United States, coupled with a small population and an expansive transportation network that covers the equivalent of one-fifth the entire U.S. land mass; there are many challenges that Alaska faces when it comes to updating, preserving and expanding its highway network,” Woodrow said.
Utah made the biggest jump from 29th to 13th. Idaho rose from 30th to 16th and Maine moved from 16th to fourth. In contrast, Iowa tumbled from 18th to 40th, Wisconsin fell from 15th to 28th and Wyoming slipped from first to eighth.
The Reason Foundation’s report covers the performance of state-owned highway systems in 11 categories, including highway spending, pavement and bridge condition, traffic congestion and fatality rates that state highway agencies submitted to federal agencies for 2013, the most recent year for which complete data is available.
According to the report, almost half of the nation’s urban interstate pavement that’s in poor condition, 48 percent, is located in just five states: California, Louisiana, Michigan, New York and Texas. That’s also true for the rural interstate pavement that’s in poor condition, half of which is in just five states: Alaska, California, Colorado, Indiana and Washington.
There was some good news in the report. The percentage of deficient bridges is decreasing with only Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island reporting that more than a third of their bridges are still deficient or functionally obsolete. And only Montana, Mississippi, South Carolina and West Virginia reported fatality rates greater than 1.5 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.
However, drivers in more than 20 states suffered congestion delays of at least 40 hours per year, or the equivalent of a full work week stuck in traffic.
