26th Annual Highway Report: Maintenance Disbursements per Mile

Maintenance disbursements are the costs to perform routine upkeep, such as filling in potholes and repaving roads. Maintenance disbursements comprise about 17.4% of total disbursements, totaling $27.46 billion in 2019, up 13.8% from 2018 ($26.55 billion), the last time this assessment was completed.

This year we measure maintenance disbursements in lane-miles. Last year, we measured maintenance disbursements per centerline- mile, lane-mile, and vehicle-miles traveled per lane-mile. The average 2019 per-mile disbursement is $14,570 (Table 8, Maintenance Disbursements by State, 2019, Figure 3), an increase

of 3.3% from $14,111 in 2018. This follows a generally steady increased spending trend over the past decade. Since 2007, these per-mile disbursements have increased about 38%, while the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has increased about 23%.

In 2019, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Carolina, Mississippi, and West Virginia reported the lowest overall maintenance expenditures. New Jersey, Washington, New York, California, and Rhode Island reported the highest overall expenditures. In terms of disbursements per lane-mile, the largest percentage shifts from 2018 to 2019 were Maryland (with a decrease of 17%) and Idaho, Arkansas, Washington, and New Mexico (with increases of 198%, 82%, 81%, and 81% respectively). Some of the disbursements per state- controlled lane-mile can vary widely from year to year reflecting funding actions and project schedules.

Maintenance Disbursements Per State-Controlled Mile