Rural Interstate Pavement Condition — 24th 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 2016, about 1.96 percent of U.S. rural Interstates— 566 miles out of 28,820—were reported to be in poor condition. (Table 11, Percent Rural Interstate Mileage in Poor Condition, 2016, Figure 6). This is a slight improvement from 2015, the last time this assessment was completed, when 529 miles out of 28,657 (about 1.85 percent) of rural Interstate pavement was rated poor.

Percent Rural Interstate Mileage in Poor Condition
24th Annual Highway Report

[show-map id=’26’]

1 to 10 Very Good 11 to 20 Good 21 to 30 Average 31 to 40 Bad 41 to 50 Very Bad

Rural Interstate mileage in poor condition varies widely by state. In 2016, five states reported no poor mileage (Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont) and 16 more reported less than 1 percent poor mileage. On the other hand, three states (Alaska, Colorado and Washington) reported more than 5 percent poor mileage. The three states together have about 8 percent of U.S. rural Interstate mileage (2,150 miles of 28,220), but have 26 percent of the poor-condition mileage. Additionally, in 2016, California reported the largest change in rural pavement condition. The state has 2.5 times more rural pavement in poor condition than in 2015.

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

Percent Rural Interstate Mileage in Poor Condition

Rank	State	Percent Rural Interstate Mileage in Poor Condition
1	Maine	0.00
1	New Hampshire	0.00
1	New Jersey	0.00
1	Rhode Island	0.00
1	Vermont	0.00
6	Florida	0.14
7	Kansas	0.16
8	Illinois	0.16
9	North Dakota	0.20
10	Utah	0.29
11	Tennessee	0.32
12	Kentucky	0.32
13	Nevada	0.45
14	Virginia	0.50
15	Oregon	0.61
16	Alabama	0.71
17	Missouri	0.71
18	Nebraska	0.73
19	Montana	0.82
20	North Carolina	0.93
21	West Virginia	0.98
22	Texas	1.00
23	South Dakota	1.05
24	Wyoming	1.24
25	New Mexico	1.31
26	Idaho	1.35
27	Maryland	1.41
28	South Carolina	1.47
29	Arizona	1.53
30	Georgia	1.54
31	Ohio	1.56
32	Pennsylvania	1.58
33	Iowa	1.71
34	Michigan	2.14
35	Minnesota	2.14
36	Oklahoma	2.50
37	Massachusetts	2.82
38	Mississippi	3.07
39	Louisiana	3.23
40	Arkansas	3.42
41	New York	3.44
42	Connecticut	3.45
43	Indiana	3.46
44	Wisconsin	4.15
45	California	4.90
46	Washington	5.83
47	Colorado	6.48
48	Alaska	10.64
49	Delaware	NA
50	Hawaii	NA
	Weighted Average	1.96