Report: New Jersey has Some of the Worst Roads in the Country

Be careful on that highway. It’s sure to be a bumpy ride.

New Jersey stayed firmly planted at the no. 48 mark and remained a state with some of the worst roads in the country according to the 21st Annual Highway Report conducted by the Reason Foundation. This keeps in line with a trend found in most states in which progress on highway maintenance is slowing.

“Many of the easiest repairs and fixes to state highway and bridge systems have already been made and the rate of progress is slowing down,” said David Hartgen, the lead author of the Annual Highway Report since 1984. “A widening gap also seems to be emerging between states that are still making improvements and a few states that are really falling behind on highway maintenance and repairs.”

The report took into account the number of repairs, the number of fatalities on state roads, pavement conditions, the condition of bridges and other structures, and lane size and functionality -- for instance, roads too narrow for safe maneuvering.

New Jersey’s report was grim overall. The state ranked No. 5 in road fatalities, 36th in deficient bridges, 31st in rural interstate pavement condition, 46 th in urban Interstate pavement condition and 41st in urban interstate congestion.

When it comes to spending, the state is 50th overall in total disbursements per mile and 45th in administrative disbursements per mile. It was also on the very bottom of the list for maintenance disbursements per mile and capital-bridge disbursements per mile.

New Jersey road ranking has dropped two places since 2009. For a complete list and breakdown for each state, visit the Reason Foundation Highway Report page.

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