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<font size="+3">States with the Worst Roads</font><br>
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<p class="post-meta"> <span class="byline">By <a class="vcard
author url" href="http://247wallst.com/author/steven-peters/"
title="Posts by Steven Peters" rel="author" itemprop="author"
itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><span
class="fn" itemprop="name">Steven Peters</span></a></span> <span
class="timestamp" itemprop="datePublished"
content="2016-10-21T06:00:34+00:00">October 21, 2016 6:00 am EDT</span></p>
<p class="post-meta"><br>
<b><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://tinyurl.com/ztvq44b">http://tinyurl.com/ztvq44b</a></b></p>
<div itemprop="articleBody" class="entry-content">
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<p>In its most recent assessment, the American Society of Civil
Engineers gave the United States a failing grade for its
infrastructure. According to the group, $3.6 trillion would be
needed to raise the standard of America’s roads to acceptable
levels before 2020.</p>
<p>To determine the states with the worst roads, 24/7 Wall St.
reviewed statistics from the Federal Highway Administration. The
worst roads are in Rhode Island, where 52% of major roadways are
in poor condition. By contrast, less than 5% of the roads tested
in Idaho are in need of repair, the lowest share of any state.</p>
<p>Driving on rough, damaged roads can be unpleasant, dangerous,
and often leads to additional vehicle operating and repair
costs, including flat tires and general tire wear, deterioration
of a vehicle’s shock absorption, extra fuel costs, and so on.
These additional costs are highest in New Jersey, where on
average each motorist spends an extra $601 annually on vehicle
operating and repair costs. Nationwide, roads in disrepair cost
motorists an extra $66.6 billion, or $324 per motorist each
year.</p>
<p><span style="color:#008000;"><a
href="http://247wallst.com/special-report/2016/10/21/states-with-the-worst-roads/2/"
style="color:#008000;"><strong>Click here to see the states
with the worst roads.</strong></a></span></p>
<p>Bridges are another way to assess a state’s public road system.
Nearly one in four bridges in America do not meet the standards
set by the federal government. While the vast majority of these
bridges are still safe to use, they must be monitored and
eventually repaired or modernized. Travel on some are restricted
to certain weight limits. States with more roads in poor
condition tend to have a higher share of bridges that are
deficient. Rhode Island, the state with the worst roads, also
has the highest share of deficient bridges, at 56%.</p>
<p>Geographical features and weather conditions can make road
construction and maintenance much more challenging. It is both
cheaper and easier to build and maintain roads in a flat state
like Kansas than in neighboring mountainous Colorado. In states
such as Wisconsin, road pavement expands and contracts due to
large temperature differences in winter and summer. Because this
expansion and contraction damages the pavement, extra
maintenance costs are required — costs not required in states
with more even temperatures.</p>
<p>To identify the states with the worst roads, 24/7 Wall St.
reviewed pavement roughness data from the U.S. Federal Highway
Administration’s 2014 Highway Statistics report. Also from the
report are the share of deficient bridges and total lane-miles.
The share of deficient bridges is the sum of bridges categorized
as either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Extra
vehicle operating and repair costs are from the American Society
of Civil Engineers 2013 Report Card for America’s
Infrastructure. Because 2014 pavement roughness data was
unavailable for Massachusetts, 2013 data was used. All data is
from the most recent period available.</p>
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<strong>50. Idaho</strong><br>
<strong>> Public roads in poor condition:</strong> 4.7% (the
lowest)<br>
<strong>> Deficient bridges:</strong> 19.8% (16th lowest)<br>
<strong>> Added vehicle costs:</strong> $305 per motorist (21st
highest)<br>
<strong>> Size of road system:</strong> 100,317 lane-miles (16th
smallest)<br>
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<b><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://tinyurl.com/ztvq44b">http://tinyurl.com/ztvq44b</a> <br>
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Ken<br>
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P.S.: I think this rating is prima facie evidence that the authors
of this report have never been on Idaho roads, especially in the
winter time. Despite the fact that I saw an 80 MPH speed limit
sign on an Idaho freeway this summer, the fact that 25 MPH
single-lane roadways still exist on the main north-south route in
this state is not indicative of roadways ready for contemporary
carriage and commerce. --KM<br>
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