Washington’s state highway system is ranked 24th in the nation
in overall performance and efficiency in the latest Annual Highway
Report
by Reason Foundation. That’s up significantly from 33rd in the last
report.
Reason Foundation is a nonprofit libertarian research organization
based in Los Angeles.
The report measures the condition and cost-effectiveness of
state-owned roads in 11 categories. Washington spends slightly more
per mile on its highways than the national average, at $176,786 per
mile. Here’s how Washington, which has the 12th-largest state
highway system at 17,281 miles, fared. The numbers are from 2009,
the most recent year for which full spending statistics were
available.
Category Data Rank
Capital-Bridge Disbursements per Mile
$99,814 32
Maintenance Disbursements per Mile
$36,260 38
Administrative Disbursements per Mile
$11,685 24
Total Disbursement per Mile $176,786
33
Rural Interstate Percent Poor Condition
0 1
Rural Other Principal Arterial Percent Poor
.05 7
Urban Interstate Percent Poor 2.35
23
Urban Interstate Percent Congested
32.26 14
Rural Arterial Percent Narrow Lanes
27.11 47
Percent of Deficient Bridges 25.80
32
Fatality Rate 0.87 8
Overall Performance 0.95 24
Having recently completed a trip through Eastern Washington, I
find the top ranking in rural interstate pavement surprising. We
were driving a Ford cargo van, and though it was new, it might’ve
been part of the problem. The front end bounced around so much it’d
lose contact with the road.
To make matters worse, the van was a big sail. The wind kicked up.
The sky was brown. I thought it was a forest fire. But as we got
closer, it was dirt clouds blown up from the fields. Dropping down
the hill to cross the Columbia River, we were nearly blown off the
bridge at Vantage.
Nationwide, Americans are driving on slightly smoother roads,
crossing fewer deficient bridges and spending less time stuck in
traffic jams, according to the report. There was small
improvement in every category except pavement condition on rural
arterial roads.
“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 can make the case that overall America’s roads and bridges
have never been in better shape.”
North Dakota has the country’s top-ranked state-controlled road
system, followed by Kansas, Wyoming, New Mexico and Montana.
Alaska’s road system was the lowest quality and least
cost-effective, followed by Rhode Island, Hawaii, California, New
Jersey and New York.
Washington jumped the second-most spots, behind Vermont.
New Jersey spends $1.2 million per mile on its state-controlled
highways, nearly twice as much as the $679,000 per mile of the next
biggest-spending state — California. South Carolina spends the
least, just $31,000 per mile.
Massachusetts had the lowest fatality rate while Montana had the
highest.
