Washington has some of the worst roads in America, according to a new nationwide analysis

A recent study out of Munley Law used data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics to determine which states have the best road quality, or the smoothest drive. The results may not surprise many Washingtonians.

The BTS has data on the miles of “acceptable” quality road miles in each state. Munley Law looked at all the data from 2011 to 2020 to determine which states had the highest average rate of acceptable road quality.

Idaho came out on top, with nearly 95% percent of acceptable road miles on average.

Washington didn’t rank nearly as high. In fact, it fell in the bottom ten states.

AVERAGE ROAD QUALITY BY STATE

According to the BTS data, there are about 20,000 total miles in Washington state, a total that grew through the late 2000s, fluctuating around 19,000 and 20,000 since 2011. The percentage of acceptable miles in the state was in the 80s and 90s through the 2000s, but has fallen to the 6971% range since the 2010s.

States with the highest average:

Idaho - 94.78% Georgia - 94.5% Tennessee - 94.17% North Dakota - 93.96% Nebraska - 92.47% Wyoming - 91.51% Kentucky - 91.24% Alabama - 90.77% Montana - 89.6% Oregon - 89.44% The worst average was in New Jersey, where just over half of the roads are in acceptable condition.

WHERE DO WASHINGTON ROADS RANK?

Washington state came out near last place for road quality. The bottom ten states for road quality in America, according to the study, are:

New Jersey - 50.71% (worst)

Rhode Island - 51.51% Connecticut - 58.14% Hawai’i - 59.27% California - 59.65% Massachusetts - 63.47% Washington - 70.44% West Virginia - 71.3% New Mexico - 71.83% Mississippi - 72.16%

Karlee Van De Venter: 509-416-6035, @Karleevnews