Report: Pennsylvania roads better than those in New York and New Jersey

NEWARK, N.J. – New Jersey spends more per mile on its highway system than any other state in the country but isn’t getting its money’s worth, according to a report released Thursday by a nonpartisan public policy group.

The report by the Reason Foundation ranked New Jersey’s highways last in cost-effectiveness and conditions. The think tank, which began releasing its report on the nation’s highways in 1984, found New Jersey has the highest per-mile costs of any state. It was the second year in a row the state occupied the bottom spot.

On a more positive note, New Jersey’s overall road fatality rate was fourth-lowest in the nation.

The foundation ranked Pennsylvania 35th and New York 45th overall. Pennsylvania’s ranking is an improvement from 41st last year.

Pennsylvania’s state-controlled highway mileage makes it the fourth-largest highway system in the country, according to the report.

The state’s best rankings are in rural fatality rate (20th) and overall fatality rate (25th).

Pennsylvania’s worst rankings are structurally deficient bridges (46th) and rural arterial pavement condition (41st). The state’s rural interstate pavement condition dropped to 32nd after ranking 27th last year.

On spending, Pennsylvania ranks 39th in total spending per mile and 38th in capital and bridge costs per mile.

“To improve in the rankings, Pennsylvania needs to reduce its percentage of structurally deficient bridges and improve its rural arterial pavement condition,” said Baruch Feigenbaum, lead author of the Annual Highway Report and assistant director of transportation at Reason Foundation.

“Pennsylvania is in the bottom 10 for structurally deficient bridges and rural arterial pavement condition. Compared to neighboring states, the report finds Pennsylvania’s overall highway performance is better than Maryland (ranks 39th) and New Jersey (ranks 50th) but worse than West Virginia (ranks 16th).

“Pennsylvania is doing better than some comparable states such as New York (ranks 45th) but worse than other comparable states such as Ohio (ranks 18th).”

The report used statistics compiled by the Federal Highway Administration from state data reported in 2016 and 2017. Despite spending the highest amount per mile, the study ranked New Jersey worst in the country in congestion and near the bottom in pavement conditions in rural and urban areas.

“New Jersey is expected to have somewhat higher costs than many other states, but the state has one of the smallest highway systems in the country so taxpayers could realistically expect New Jersey to improve its ranking by improving its pavement condition and decreasing traffic congestion,” lead author Baruch Feigenbaum said in a statement.

A state Department of Transportation spokesman said in an email that the department is reviewing the report.

The report also analyzed bridge conditions, and rated New Jersey 29th with 8.85% of its bridges reported as structurally deficient. The bottom five states — Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Virginia, Iowa and Rhode Island — each reported more than 18% of their bridges as deficient.

The report defined structurally deficient bridges as those with deteriorated conditions that need maintenance in the near future to ensure continued safety.

North Dakota ranked first, followed by Virginia, Missouri, Maine and Kentucky in the top five.

The bottom five were New Jersey, Alaska, Rhode Island, Hawaii and Massachusetts.