ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Missouri is a standout performer again when it comes to which states have the highest performing and most cost-effective highway systems. The state remains among the top-3 best states in the Annual Highway Report from the Reason Foundation.
In every ranking since 2016, Missouri has been No. 2 or No. 3. This year, the state is No. 3, with the sixth-largest highway system in the nation. Illinois ranked No. 40.
The report ranks states every few years based on 13 categories, like pavement and bridge conditions, traffic fatalities, and spending per mile.
Here's where the state ranked in some of the report's main categories:
Overall: 3rd
Total disbursements per mile: 5th
Capital and bridge disbursements per mile: 1st
Maintenance disbursements per mile: 9th
Rural interstate pavement condition: 11th
Urban interstate pavement condition: 13th
Overal fatality rate: 27th
The report says Missouri drivers spend 5.60 hours stuck in traffic congestion, ranking 9th nationally. The report defined the metric as "peak hours spent in congestion per auto commuter annually."
Missouri's biggest areas of need are its urban fatality rate (No. 37) and percentage of structurally deficient bridges (No. 34).
"While Missouri’s rankings in urban fatality rate and percent structurally deficient bridges are not awful, compared to the state’s other stellar rankings, they stick out like a sore thumb," the report states. "It’s impossible for any one state to rank highly in all the categories, but if Missouri is able to reduce its urban fatality rate and percent structurally deficient bridges even slightly, the state would be a contender for the number one overall ranking."
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