Virginia has 2nd-best highway system in U.S.

By Tyler Arnold | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Virginia has the second best highway system in the country, according to a recent report from the libertarian Reason Foundation, which analyzed highway conditions and cost effectiveness using 2019 and 2020 data.

In the newest report, the commonwealth ranked within the top 10 in six of the 13 categories and within the top half in all but two of the categories. The report ranked each of the 50 states, but did not include Washington, D.C. in the analysis.

Virginia ranked as one of the most cost effective highway systems in the country, coming in second for capital and bridge disbursements per mile and eighth in total disbursements per mile. The state also ranked 18th in administrative disbursements per mile and 27th in maintenance disbursements per mile.

The commonwealth also performed well in road condition rankings, coming in fourth for rural arterial pavement conditions, sixth in rural interstate pavement conditions, 10th in fewest structurally deficient bridges and 17th in urban interstate pavement conditions. The state also had the 9th lowest urban fatality rate and the 19th lowest rural fatality rate. In overall fatality rates, the state ranked the 15th lowest.

For urbanized area congestion, Virginia ranked slightly below average, ranking in 27th.

North Dakota was the only state to perform better than Virginia overall. Two of Virginia’s neighbors were also in the top five: Kentucky ranked fourth and North Carolina ranked fifth. Missouri was the other state in the top five, ranking third.

Virginia’s other two neighboring states ranked outside the top half: West Virginia ranked 30th and Maryland ranked 38th. The worst performing states were New Jersey, Rhode Island, Alaska, Hawaii and New York.

“Since states have different highway budgets, system sizes, and traffic and geographic circumstances, their comparative performance depends on both system performance and the resources available,” the foundation noted. “To determine relative performance across the country, state highway system budgets (per mile of responsibility) are compared with system performance, state-by-state. In this report, states with high overall ratings typically have better-than-average highway system conditions (good for road users) along with relatively efficient spending in per-mile categories (good for taxpayers).”

The report noted that the top performing states are a mix of large and small states, but that very rural states may be at a slight advantage. Despite this, some states with large urban areas, such as Virginia, did rank toward the top.