26th 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 2019, about 2% of U.S. rural Interstates—586 miles out of 29,232—were reported to be in poor condition. (Table 11, Percent Rural Interstate Mileage in Poor Condition, 2019, Figure 6.) This is a slight improvement from 2018, the last time this assessment was completed, when 598 miles out of 29,186 (about 2.04%) of rural Interstate pavement was rated poor.

Between 2018 and 2019, the percentage of poor rural Interstate mileage decreased in 22 states, increased in 19 states and remained about the same in seven states. The percent of poor mileage changed less than one percentage point in 42 of the states. Alaska, New Jersey, and Wisconsin led the states in decreasing poor- condition mileage (by 3.61, 2.22, and 1.18 percentage points, respectively) while South Carolina, Massachusetts, and Maine led the states in increasing poor-condition mileage (by 3.48, 1.61, and 1.08, respectively).

Rural Interstate mileage in poor condition varies widely by state. In 2019, four states reported no poor mileage (Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Rhode Island) and 15 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 (2,068 miles of 29,232) but have 25% 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