(The Center Square) – Colorado highways rank as some of the worst in the nation and are only getting worse.
This is according to the newly-released Annual Highway Report from Reason Foundation, which measured the condition and cost-effectiveness of state-controlled highways in 13 categories.
While the state ranked 43rd overall out of all 50 states, it placed 47th for the condition of its rural highway pavement and 45th for urban highway pavement.
There are many steps that need to be taken to improve its ranking, the report found. These largely include additional infrastructure investments.
“In terms of improving in the road condition and performance categories, Colorado should focus on reducing capital and bridge disbursements and maintenance disbursements as well as improving both rural and urban interstate conditions,” said Baruch Feigenbaum, lead author of the report.
Safety factors also play a role in the ranking, though.
“The state should also focus on lowering its urban fatality rate, its lowest safety-focused category ranking,” Feigenbaum said.
Looking at fatalities, the report found that Colorado ranked 40th in urban fatality rate and 32nd in rural fatality rate.
While the state had the same placement in the report last year, its road conditions have deteriorated since 2019, when it ranked 36th in the nation.
This comes even as Colorado has instituted numerous transportation fees, which, while ostensibly fixing the roads, are actually being directed to funding public transportation and electric vehicle initiatives.
This is according to a March report titled “The Ongoing Shift of Transportation Dollars,” which was authored by Ben Stein for the Common Sense Institute of Colorado.
Stein spoke with The Center Square, detailing his concerns with how Coloradans are largely unaware of the long-term impact the shift in transportation spending will have on the state’s roads.
States that placed worse than Colorado on the Highway Report include California, Washington, Hawaii and Alaska. In more bad news for the state, it placed significantly worse than both its neighboring states and states with similar populations.
For example, Utah (a neighboring state) placed eighth and Minnesota (a state with a similar population) placed seventh.
The Reason Foundation also found that Coloradans spend 36 hours a year stuck in traffic congestion, making it the 36th state in the nation for traffic congestion.
