Capital and bridge disbursements are the costs to build new, and widen existing, highways and bridges. Capital and bridge disbursements for state-owned roads equal 51.6 percent of total disbursements, totaling $71.75 billion in 2016, about 4.4 percent less than was spent in 2015 ($74.90 billion), the last time this assessment was completed.
Capital and Bridge Disbursements Per State-Controlled Lane-Mile
24th Annual Highway Report
This year, we measure capital and bridge disbursements per lane-mile. In past years, we measured them in centerline-miles. The average 2016 per-mile disbursement is $36,681 (Table 7, Capital and Bridge Disbursements Per State-Controlled Mile, 2016, Figure 2). We also calculated disbursements in centerline- miles to compare 2016 disbursements to previous years. Centerline-mile disbursements decreased about 4.1 percent, from $91,992 per mile in 2015 to $88,212 per mile in 2016. This significant decrease bucks a generally steady spending trend over the last decade. Since 2007, these per-mile disbursements have increased about 15 percent, while the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has increased about 18 percent.*
In 2016, South Carolina, Missouri, West Virginia, New Mexico and South Dakota reported the lowest per-mile capital and bridge expenditures. New Jersey, Florida, New York, Connecticut and Illinois reported the highest per-mile expenditures. The states with the largest percentage shifts from 2015 to 2016 were Delaware and Nevada (which increased per-mile expenditures by more than 35 percent) and Texas and Hawaii (which decreased per-mile expenditures by more than 39 percent). Some of the disbursements per state-controlled mile can vary widely from year to year—reflecting funding actions and project schedules.
*Massachusetts’ latest disbursement data is from 2010.
Table 7: Capital and Bridge Disbursements per State-Controlled Lane-Mile
| Rank | State | Disbursement |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Carolina | $8,154 |
| 2 | Missouri | $9,736 |
| 3 | West Virginia | $11,595 |
| 4 | New Mexico | $13,051 |
| 5 | South Dakota | $15,018 |
| 6 | North Carolina | $15,367 |
| 7 | Virginia | $15,745 |
| 8 | Montana | $17,741 |
| 9 | Wyoming | $18,529 |
| 10 | Maine | $23,323 |
| 11 | Idaho | $24,310 |
| 12 | Arkansas | $24,555 |
| 13 | Oregon | $24,570 |
| 14 | Nebraska | $25,108 |
| 15 | Mississippi | $25,635 |
| 16 | Alabama | $25,903 |
| 17 | Utah | $26,119 |
| 18 | Kentucky | $26,163 |
| 19 | Tennessee | $26,495 |
| 20 | Georgia | $26,612 |
| 21 | Louisiana | $27,652 |
| 22 | New Hampshire | $27,822 |
| 23 | Vermont | $30,569 |
| 24 | Kansas | $31,761 |
| 25 | North Dakota | $31,838 |
| 26 | Texas | $36,450 |
| 27 | Michigan | $36,723 |
| 28 | Delaware | $37,332 |
| 29 | Iowa | $38,218 |
| 30 | California | $40,406 |
| 31 | Minnesota | $41,717 |
| 32 | Nevada | $43,535 |
| 33 | Oklahoma | $43,807 |
| 34 | Colorado | $45,137 |
| 35 | Arizona | $46,262 |
| 36 | Indiana | $46,769 |
| 37 | Washington | $47,548 |
| 38 | Pennsylvania | $50,354 |
| 39 | Ohio | $50,811 |
| 40 | Wisconsin | $52,280 |
| 41 | Alaska | $54,413 |
| 42 | Hawaii | $72,796 |
| 43 | Rhode Island | $87,136 |
| 44 | Maryland | $90,441 |
| 45 | Massachusetts | $92,972 |
| 46 | Illinois | $95,116 |
| 47 | Connecticut | $96,956 |
| 48 | New York | $102,418 |
| 49 | Florida | $137,875 |
| 50 | New Jersey | $214,678 |
| Weighted Average | $36,681 |
<strong><a class=”pdf-icon” href=”https://reason.org/wp-content/uploads/24th-annual-highway-report-2019.pdf”>Full Study: 24th Annual Highway Report</a></strong>
<strong><a class=”pdf-icon” href=”https://reason.org/wp-content/uploads/24th-annual-highway-report-2019-state-by-state-summaries.pdf”>24th Annual Highway Report’s State-by-State Summaries</a></strong>