Rhode Island Does Not Have the Worst Highways and Bridges, But It's Close, Says New Report
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Rhode Island Does Not Have the Worst Highways and Bridges, But It's Close, Says New Report
According to a new study, Rhode Island’s highways, bridges, and roads are not the worst in the country, but it is not far off either, and not improving compared to other states.
Reason Foundation’s Annual Highway Report tracks the performance of the 50 state highway systems. Each state’s overall rating is determined by rankings in 13 categories, including highway expenditures per mile, Interstate and primary road pavement conditions, urbanized area congestion, bridge conditions, and fatality rates. The report is based on spending and performance data state highway agencies submitted to the federal government, supplemented by data from the National Bridge Inventory and INRIX.
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Rhode Island Red Flags
System performance problems in each measured category seem to be concentrated in a handful of states:
- Almost 40% of the urban arterial primary mileage in poor condition is in just four states: California, Nebraska, Rhode Island, and New York.
Although a majority of states saw the percentage of structurally deficient bridges decline, nine states report more than 10% of their bridges as structurally deficient: West Virginia, Iowa, South Dakota, Rhode Island, Maine, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Michigan, and North Dakota.
Rhode Island’s Ranking By Categories - Good News and Really Expensive News
According to the Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation, Rhode Island suffered a one-spot decline from last year’s ranking of 42nd — now, Rhode Island is ranked 43rd.
Peter Alviti, the architect of Rhode Island's transportation maintenance and improvement strategy and the Director of Transportation, resigned last month after a decade. He was a political appointee frist by Governor Gina Raimondo and then retained by Governor McMcee.
The Reason Foundation’s study breaks down 13 categories, and Rhode Island ranks as high as 4th for rural road-related fatalities.
Most concerning from a fiscal standpoint is Rhode Island’s ranking for structurally deficient bridges — Rhode Island ranks 47th, and the cost to taxpayers will be in the billions.
In safety and condition categories, Rhode Island’s highways rank 6th in Rural Interstate Pavement Condition, 10th in Urban Interstate Pavement Condition, 49th in Rural Arterial Pavement Condition, 48th in Urban Arterial Pavement Condition, 47th in Structurally Deficient Bridges, 4th in Rural Fatality Rate, and 20th in Urban Fatality Rate. Rhode Island ranks 37th out of the 50 states in traffic congestion, and its drivers spend about 32 hours a year stuck in traffic congestion.
In spending and cost-effectiveness, Rhode Island ranks 31st in Capital and Bridge Disbursements, which are the costs of building new roads and bridges and widening existing ones. Rhode Island ranks 29th in Maintenance Disbursements, such as the costs of repaving roads and filling in potholes. Rhode Island’s Administrative Disbursements, including office spending that does not make its way to roads, rank 18th nationwide.
Compared to the previous report, the categories in which the state improved the most were Rural Fatality Rate (31st to 4th) and Maintenance Disbursements (35th to 29th). Rhode Island worsened the most in Urban Fatality Rate (2nd to 20th).
Last in New England
When compared to the New England states, Rhode Island’s overall highway performance is worse than Connecticut’s (7th), New Hampshire’s (13th), Maine’s (16th), Massachusetts’ (17th), and Vermont's (38th).