Rhode Island's Rankings in the
28th Annual Highway Report
Rhode Island’s highway system ranks 42nd in the nation in overall cost-effectiveness and condition.
According to the Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation, this is consistent with Rhode Island’s ranking of 42nd overall in the last evaluation of the condition, safety, and costs of roads and bridges in all 50 states.
In safety and condition categories, Rhode Island’s highways rank 4th in urban Interstate pavement condition, 1st in rural Interstate pavement condition, 48th in urban arterial pavement condition, 49th in rural arterial pavement condition, 47th in structurally deficient bridges, 2nd in urban fatality rate, and 31st in rural fatality rate.
Rhode Island ranks 38th out of the 50 states in traffic congestion, and its drivers spend 42 hours a year stuck in traffic congestion.
In spending and cost-effectiveness, Rhode Island ranks 30th in capital and bridge disbursements, which are the costs of building new roads and bridges and widening existing ones. Rhode Island ranks 30th in maintenance spending, such as the costs of repaving roads and filling in potholes. Rhode Island’s administrative disbursements, including office spending that doesn’t make its way to roads, ranks 20th nationwide.
The categories in which the state improved the most from the previous report were urban Interstate pavement condition (18th to 4th) and urban fatality rate (16th to 2nd).
Rhode Island worsened the most in capital-bridge disbursements (22nd to 30th).
Compared to neighboring and nearby states, Rhode Island’s overall highway performance is better than New York’s (45th), but worse than Connecticut’s (13th) and Massachusetts’ (40th).
Comparing its overall performance to similarly populated states, Rhode Island ranks behind both Montana (16th) and Delaware (41st).
Rhode Island’s highway system ranks 42nd out of 50 states overall this year, ranked 42nd in last year’s report, and was 48th in the nation five years ago, in 2019.
“In terms of improving in the road condition and performance categories, Rhode Island should focus on improving both rural and urban arterial pavement condition. The state ranks in the bottom three in both categories, its worst rankings by far,” said Baruch Feigenbaum, lead author of the 28th Annual Highway Report and senior managing director of transportation policy at Reason Foundation. “Reducing the percentage of structurally deficient bridges should also be a priority for Rhode Island, as the state ranks in the bottom five in bridges.”