California’s roads and bridges worsen, ranking next to last in the nation in condition and cost-effectiveness. – Daily News

If California’s roads and bridges seem to be getting worse, you’re correct. California’s highway system now ranks 49th out of 50 states in overall condition and cost-effectiveness in Reason Foundation’s latest Annual Highway Report, dropping from 47th in the previous study. The state’s highways had been ranked 43rd in the nation for several years, indicating that California is heading in the wrong direction.

The Annual Highway Report assesses pavement conditions, safety, traffic congestion, deficient bridges, and the costs associated with roads and bridges across all 50 states in 13 categories. In the latest report, only Alaska—which is not connected to the contiguous 48 states and faces harsh winters and high costs—ranks lower than California.

California’s highways rank in the bottom 10 states in all key pavement condition categories. California’s roads are the worst in the nation in terms of urban arterial road pavement condition, 47th out of 50 in urban Interstate highway pavement condition, 46th in rural Interstate condition, and 41st in rural arterial pavement condition. With some of the nation’s highest gas taxes in the country, fixing potholes and resurfacing roads shouldn’t be too much for drivers to ask.

Miles traveled and traffic congestion are returning closer to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, and, unfortunately, California ranks 44th out of the 50 states in traffic congestion. The average driver in the state spends 60 hours a year stuck in traffic congestion, which wastes money and harms the environment. Ultimately, California’s poor roads hurt the economy, increase vehicle maintenance costs for families, and cause people to waste time and fuel stuck in traffic jams.

If you’re looking for anything resembling good news in the report, California is in the middle of the pack — 25th in structurally deficient bridges. But that’s about it. Regarding safety, the state is a disappointing 33rd in urban road fatality rate and 28th in rural road fatality rate.

The disappointing rankings in safety and pavement conditions are even more striking given that California’s highways are among the most expensive in the nation. In spending, California ranks 43rd, meaning it spends more than 42 other states, in capital and bridge disbursements, which cover the costs of building new roads and bridges and widening existing ones. In maintenance spending, California ranks 44th on costs like repaving roads and filling potholes. California’s administrative disbursements, which include office spending that does not contribute directly to road improvements, rank 35th nationwide.

A state can have above-average spending while maintaining a high-quality system. For instance, Utah ranks 47th in capital and bridge disbursement funding, worse than California. However, since all of Utah’s pavement conditions are in the top 10, the state’s overall ranking is a very good 8th in the nation. Neighboring Nevada ranks 36th in capital spending and 49th in administrative expenditures. Yet, because all its pavement conditions are in the top 20, Nevada’s overall ranking is 24th. 

High spending alone is not California’s problem. The problem is that higher spending is not improving pavement quality, reducing traffic congestion, or fatalities.

Evaluating its overall performance and cost-effectiveness against other large and similarly populated states is concerning. California falls significantly behind in cost-effectiveness and road conditions compared to Florida, which ranks 14th in the Annual Highway Report, and Texas, which is 25th overall. Even New York and New Jersey, often near the bottom of the Annual Highway Report’s rankings, now perform better than California.

When it comes to improving in the road condition and performance categories, the state should take immediate steps to improve pavement conditions. It also needs to find a way to reduce urban traffic congestion by adding new capacity and better managing existing highways.

While California may never be able to dramatically lower its road construction and maintenance costs to levels of the average state, it can do a lot more to reduce administrative costs and improve the condition and safety of its highways and bridges. Fixing potholes, smoothing pavement, modernizing deficient bridges, and lowering traffic fatalities are reasonable expectations for drivers and taxpayers. 

Baruch Feigenbaum is the lead author of the Annual Highway Report and senior managing director of transportation policy at Reason Foundation.