27th 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 2020, about 2.10% of U.S. rural Interstates—609 miles out of 29,199—were reported to be in poor condition (Table 11, Percent Rural Interstate Mileage in Poor Condition, 2020, Figure 6). This is similar to 2019, the last time this assessment was completed, when 586 miles out of 29,232 (about 2.00%) of rural Interstate pavement was rated poor.

Between 2019 and 2020, 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 37 of the states. South Carolina, Massachusetts, and Minnesota led the states in decreasing poor-condition mileage (by 3.26, 2.13, and 1.49 percentage points, respectively) while Colorado, California, and Alaska led the states in increasing poor-condition mileage (by 2.15, 1.47, and 1.46, respectively).

Rural Interstate mileage in poor condition varies widely by state. In 2020, every state reported at least some poor mileage, as opposed to 2019 when four states reported no poor mileage (Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Rhode Island). Nineteen states reported less than 1% poor mileage. On the other hand, two states (Alaska and Colorado) reported more than 5% poor mileage. The two states together have about 5.6% of U.S. rural Interstate mileage (1,630 miles of 29,199) but have 18% 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