Report: Massachusetts Has the Fifth-Worst Highways in America

Photo by Daniel Lobo on Flickr/Creative Commons

Bostonians have the worst commute in the country, only compounded by the terrible drivers making it. But what about the roads they’re traveling on?

The Reason Foundation, the libertarian think-tank that publishes Reason magazine, released its 22nd annual highway report Thursday, ranking the nation’s top-performing, most cost-effective highways. The Massachusetts highway system was ranked the fifth-worst, behind Alaska, New Jersey, Hawaii, and Rhode Island.

Massachusetts was one of eight states, and the only in New England, where traffic congestion causes more than 50 hours of delay per auto commuter, according to the report. And while the condition of Bay State bridges is slowly improving, more than a third are still considered deficient, despite having some highest per-mile capital and bridge expenditures in recent years.

On the bright side, Massachusetts highways have the lowest fatality rate of any system in the country.

Elsewhere in New England, Maine improved an impressive 11 spots from last year’s report, from 16th to fifth overall, as the state’s road conditions improved. Maine also had the third-best urbanized area congestion, and sixth-best urban Interstate pavement condition. New Hampshire, meanwhile, has the widest rural arteries in the nation. You go, New Hampshire.

You can read the Reason Foundation’s full report here.