Rural Interstate Condition — 23rd Annual Highway Report

Percent of Rural Interstates in Poor Condition
2017 Annual Highway Report

Rural Interstates are typically four- to six-lane roadways connecting urban areas. One measurement of roadway condition is pavement condition. In most states road pavement condition is measured using special machines that determine the roughness of road surfaces. A few states continue to use visual ratings, which are then converted to roughness. In 2015, about 1.85% of U.S. rural Interstates—529 miles out of 28,657—were reported to be in poor condition. (Table 11, Percent Rural Interstate Mileage in Poor Condition, 2015, Figure 2). This is a slight improvement from 2013, the last time this assessment was completed, when 588 miles out of 29,385 (about 2.00%) of rural Interstate pavement was rated poor.

The amount of poor-condition rural Interstate mileage varies widely by state. In 2015, two states reported no poor mileage, and 19 more reported less than 1% poor mileage. On the other hand, four states (Alaska, Colorado, Wisconsin and Washington) reported more than 5% poor mileage. The four states together have about 9% of U.S. rural Interstates (2,592 miles of 28,657), but have over 33% of the poor-condition mileage. Additionally, three states reported a shift of two percentage points or more in the percentage of poor-condition rural Interstate mileage from 2013 to 2015; the amount of poor-mileage increased in Oklahoma, and decreased in California and Washington.

Delaware and Hawaii are the only states with no rural mileage in their Interstate systems.

Percent Rural Interstate Mileage in Poor Condition