California Ranks 45th in the Nation in Highway Performance and Cost-Effectiveness
The Annual Highway Report is a ranking of each state’s highway conditions and cost-effectiveness.
According to the Reason Foundation, California’s highway system ranks 45th in the nation in overall cost-effectiveness and condition, according to the Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation. This is a two-spot decrease from 43rd in the previous report.
California ranks in the bottom 10 nationally in six categories. The state does not rank higher than average (25th) in any category. Put simply, the state does many things poorly and nothing well. California’s per mile spending ($206,924) is three times that of Texas ($75,153). And what is California receiving for that high spending? It’s not smooth roads. On rural Interstates, 3.05% of pavement is in poor condition while in Texas the percentage is 0.75. On urban Interstates 8.08% of pavement is in poor condition while in Texas the percentage is 3.43.
In safety and performance categories, California ranks 25th in overall fatality rate, 25th in structurally deficient bridges, 43rd in traffic congestion, 44th in urban Interstate pavement condition, and 40th in rural Interstate pavement condition.
On spending, California spends $206,924 per state-controlled mile of highway. It ranks 44th in total spending per mile and 41st in capital and bridge costs per mile. California’s best rankings are in structurally deficient bridges (25th) and overall fatality rate (25th).
