Missouri Ranks 3rd in the Nation in Highway Performance and Cost-Effectiveness

Missouri’s highway system ranks 3^rd in the nation in overall cost- effectiveness and condition, according to the Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation. This is a one-spot decline from the previous report where Missouri ranked 2^nd.

Missouri needs to reduce its urban fatality rate and reduce its percentage of structurally deficient bridges. Peer state Kansas’ urban fatality rate is 1.5 times lower and peer state Minnesota’s rate is three times lower. Kansas’ percentage of structurally deficient bridges is 1.5 times lower than Missouri’s rate while Minnesota’s percentage of structurally deficient bridges is three times lower.

In safety and performance categories, Missouri ranks 27^th in overall fatality rate, 34^th in structurally deficient bridges, 9^th in traffic congestion, 18^th in urban Interstate pavement condition, and 11^th in rural Interstate pavement condition.

Missouri spends $27,770 per mile of state-controlled road. Missouri is 5^th in total spending per mile and 1^st in capital and bridge costs per mile.

Missouri’s best rankings are in capital and bridge disbursements (1^st) and total disbursements (5^th).

Missouri’s worst rankings are in urban fatality rate (37^th) and structurally deficient bridges (34^th).

Missouri commuters spend 5.60 hours stuck in traffic congestion, ranking 9^th nationally.

Missouri’s state-controlled highway mileage makes it the 6^th largest highway system in the country.

“To improve in the rankings, Missouri needs to reduce its urban fatality rate and its percentage of structurally deficient bridges,” said Baruch Feigenbaum, lead author of the Annual Highway Report and senior managing director of transportation policy at Reason

Foundation. “Missouri ranks in the top 30 of all states in all 11 of the other categories. The state is a consistently strong performer, having finished in the top 10 states for the last five years.

Additional Analysis

Compared to nearby states, Missouri’s overall highway performance is better than Arkansas (ranks 17^th), Iowa (ranks 22^nd), and Illinois (ranks 40^th).

Missouri is doing better than comparable states like Kansas (ranks 7^th) and Louisiana (ranks 18^th).

While Missouri’s rankings in urban fatality rate and percent structurally deficient bridges are not awful, compared to the state’s other stellar rankings, they stick out like a sore thumb. It’s impossible for any one state to rank highly in all the categories, but if Missouri is able to reduce its urban fatality rate and percent structurally deficient bridges even slightly, the state would be a contender for the number one overall ranking.
Reason Foundation’s Annual Highway Report measures the condition and cost-effectiveness of state-controlled highways in 13 categories, including pavement condition, traffic congestion, structurally deficient bridges, traffic fatalities, and spending (capital, maintenance, administrative, total) per mile.