Iowa took a big fall on a report that ranks the 50 states’ highway systems for factors like pavement condition, traffic jams, traffic deaths, deficient bridges and spending per mile. David Hartgen, lead author of the study from the Reason Foundation, says Iowa hasn’t kept up with its highway maintenance and the state’s 95-hundred miles of highways are showing the wear.
The annual study rates the states in overall highway performance and cost-effectiveness. Hartgen says Iowa did poorly in both of those areas, and in many others.
The study finds South Carolina, South Dakota and Kansas have the nation’s most cost-effective state highway systems, while Alaska ranked last, just ahead of New Jersey and Hawaii.
This is the 22nd Annual Highway Report published by the Reason Foundation, a nonprofit think tank that has advised four presidential administrations on transportation and infrastructure issues.
