Here’s How Colorado Ranks Among Nation’s Highway Systems

The 2019 Reason Foundation’s Annual Highway Report presented a troubling finding for the condition of America’s highway system — our freeways are deteriorating, and bridges, interstates pavement, and roads are in much need of repair.

The report was based on data that states submitted to the federal government, which ranks each state’s highway system in 14 categories, including total spending per mile, urban fatality rate on the road, and congestion.

Our state ranks 36th in overall performance and cost-effectiveness rankings. Colorado also ranked 33rd in total disbursements per mile, 34 in capital and bridge disbursements per mile, and 32nd in maintenance disbursements per mile.

North Dakota took home the top overall spot on the list for the second year in a row, whereas New Jersey ranked the 50th overall highway system in the United State. Virginia had the biggest improvement overall from last year, as it jumped 25 spots from its previous 27th ranking, all the way into second place.

Here’s how Colorado did across the other metrics:

• Administrative Disbursements Per Mile: 27th
• Rural Interstate Pavement Condition: 47th
• Urban Interstate Pavement Condition: 28th
• Rural Arterial Pavement Condition: 27th
• Urbanized Area Congestion: 37th
• Structurally Deficient Bridges: 13th
• Overall Fatality Rate: 23rd
• Rural Fatality Rate: 33rd
• Urban Fatality Rate: 32nd

“To improve in the rankings, Colorado needs to improve its rural Interstate pavement condition. Colorado is in the bottom five of all states in rural Interstate pavement condition. Compared to neighboring states, the report finds Colorado’s overall highway performance is worse than New Mexico (ranks 21st), Utah (ranks 9th) and Wyoming (ranks 11th),” Baruch Feigenbaum, lead author of the Annual Highway Report, said in a statement. “Colorado is better than some comparable states like Washington (ranks 37th), but worse than others such as Arizona (ranks 29th).”

Here are the top ten overall states in highway performance and cost-effectiveness:

1. North Dakota
2. Virginia
3. Missouri
4. Maine
5. Kentucky
6. Kansas
7. Tennessee
8. Montana
9. Utah
10. Alabama

With every ranking that includes a top ten, there’s also a bottom 10 — here are the ten worst highway systems by state:

40. Florida
41. Oklahoma
42. Delaware
43. California
44. Connecticut
45. New York
46. Massachusetts
47. Hawaii
48. Rhode Island
49. Alaska
50. New Jersey