It may be hard to think this way when you’re stuck in a traffic jam on the way home from work, but Ohio’s highways are actually some of the best in the nation when it comes to cost-effectiveness and condition.
At least, that’s according to the Reason Foundation’s 28th Annual Highway Report, in which Ohio ranked 10th overall, a significant improvement over last year when it ranked 17th.
“Reason Foundation’s 28th Annual Highway Report evaluates state highway systems on cost versus quality using a method developed in the early 1990s by David T. Hartgen, Ph.D., emeritus professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte,” the report reads.
According to the report, a high ranking means a state has “better-than-average system conditions” as well as “relatively low per-mile expenditures.”
Ohio’s high ranking stands in relative contrast to many of our neighbors, with really Kentucky only coming close at 11th. Indiana ranked 20th, Michigan 23rd, Pennsylvania 37th and West Virginia 33rd.
North Carolina came in first place, and at the bottom of the list was Alaska.
The report also ranked states on various other categories as well. While Ohio had a high ranking overall, some individual categories could still use some improvement, such as our pavement conditions and other fatality rate.
Here’s how Ohio ranked across other categories:
- Administrative Disbursements Ratio — 18
- Capital and Bridge Disbursements Ratio — 6
- Maintenance Disbursements Ratio — 20
- Other Disbursements Ratio — 26
- Other Fatality Rate — 31
- Rural Arterial Pavement Condition — 9
- Rural Fatality Rate — 9
- Rural Interstate Pavement Condition — 26
- Urbanized Area Congestion — 14
- Structurally Deficient Bridges — 13
- Urban Arterial Pavement Condition — 36
- Urban Fatality Rate — 12
- Urban Interstate Pavement Condition — 32
