25th Annual Highway Report: Rural Interstate Pavement Condition

Rural Interstates are typically four- to-six-lane highways 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 2018, about 1.89% of U.S. rural Interstates—598 miles out of 29,186—were reported to be in poor condition. This is a slight improvement from 2016, the last time this assessment was completed when 566  miles out of 28,820 (about 1.96%) of rural Interstate pavement was rated poor.

Rural Interstate mileage in poor condition varies widely by state. In 2018, two states reported no poor mileage (Connecticut and Rhode Island), and 14 more reported less than 1% poor mileage.

On the other hand, three states (Alaska, Colorado, and Washington) reported more than 5% poor mileage. The three states together have about 7% of U.S. rural Interstate mileage  (2,079 miles of 29,044) but have 32% of the poor-condition mileage.

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

Rural Interstate Pavement Condition — Percent in Poor Condition