Pa. Roads Ranked 41st in the Nation; Improvement Will Be A Bumpy Ride

By Rose Driscoll

If ever you’ve complained about the state of roads in Pennsylvania, you’re not alone.

The Reason Foundation recently ranked all states in the country on highway performance and cost-effectiveness; Pennsylvania came in 41st.

And that’s a drop: Pennsylvania was ranked 40th last year.

The main drag on Pennsylvania roads are deficient bridges and “narrow rural arterial lanes,” which are high-capacity roads that deliver traffic from collector roads to freeways or expressways.

“Many of the easiest repairs and fixes to state highway and bridge systems have already been made and the rate of progress is slowing down,” said David T. Hartgen, lead author of the Annual Highway Report since 1984. Pennsylvania ranks 34th in fatalities.

After years of decreasing, the fatality rate on state-owned roads increased to 1.13 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles travelled in 2012, up from 1.10 in 2011.

Drivers and legislators hope that Act 89, which is funding many road improvements throughout the state, will make driving safer in Pennsylvania.