Pennsylvania’s roads ranked among the country’s worst

Pennsylvania’s infrastructure remains one of the state’s main topics of conversation.

Furthering that conversation is the fact that a recent study ranked Pennsylvania’s roads among the worst in the country.

Construction Coverage, a website that helps “builders & homeowners make smarter buying decisions,” conducted and published a study that leveraged data from the U.S. Department of Transportation Administration to find which states’ roads were in the worst condition.

The study, which also used the International Roughness Index to grade roads as “poor,” “fair” or “good,” thus placed Pennsylvania’s roads in the 15th overall spot as far as “poor” goes.

“There’s no shortage of roads that need fixing, and total highway expenditures have grown over the past 20 years, highlighting the government’s commitment to providing America’s most common form of transportation,” reads the study. “Funds dedicated to capital outlay, or the cost of equipment of expenditures to make improvements including construction, grew the most and secured the most funds, increasing from $87.4 billion in 2000 to $127.7 billion in 2020.

“Spending on maintenance also increased by nearly $20 billion, climbing from $43.7 billion in 2000 to $61.4 billion in 2020.”

Fortunately, the study does note how the conditions of roads in America has “steadily” improved since 2000, “rising a total of 8.4 percentage points, from 45.5% in 2000 to 53.9% in 2020.”

States with the absolute worst roads in the U.S., however, were Hawaii at No. 5, Massachusetts at No. 4, California at No. 3, New Jersey at No. 2 and Rhode Island at No. 1.

MEDIANEWS GROUP FILE Traffic along Route 222 in Maxatawny. Pennsylvania ranked 15th for its “poor” roads.