Washington has 10th worst roads in the U.S., study finds
SEATTLE - Washington has the 10th worst roads in the U.S., according to a study by Construction Coverage.
According to a report from the consulting company, while road quality and funding improved nationwide from 2000 to 2020, not every state has been able to keep up. Washington State, in particular, has among the worst-quality roads in the country.
The report factors in the shares of roads in poor condition, fair condition and good condition, as well as daily vehicle-miles traveled per capita. "Poor quality" represents an International Roughness Index (IRI) greater than 170 inches per mile; "fair" represents an IRI between 95–170, and "good" an IRI less than 95 inches per mile.
Data in the analysis comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration’s Highway Statistics Series.
Numbers show that 19.6% of Washington’s roads are in poor condition—nearly one in five—with 40.6% in fair condition and 39.8% in good condition. An average of 19.6 vehicle-miles are driven daily per capita.
The report found the states with the worst roads in the U.S. are:
- Rhode Island
- New Jersey
- California
- Massachusetts
- Hawaii
- New York
- Connecticut
- Wisconsin
- Maryland
- Washington
- New Mexico
- Michigan
- Louisiana
- Colorado
- Pennsylvania
As poor as Washington’s roads fared in the report, it’s a far cry from Rhode Island roads. The report found The Ocean State has 38.8%—nearly two-fifths—of its roads in poor condition; 37.1% are fair, and just 24% good.
On the other side of the chart, Wyoming ranks #1 for road quality in the country, likely owing to a far smaller population. Just 3% of its roads are in poor quality, 23.1% are fair, and a staggering 73.8% are in good quality.
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You can read the full report with the rankings of all 50 states on the Construction Coverage website.