Arizona’s highway system ranks 23rd in the nation in overall cost-effectiveness and condition, according to the 25th Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation. This is a six-spot improvement from the previous Annual Highway Report, where Arizona ranked 29th.
Arizona’s best rankings are in structurally deficient bridges (3rd) and maintenance spending per mile (5th). Arizona’s worst rankings are in urban fatality rate (48th) and overall fatality rate (47th).
In safety and performance categories, Arizona ranks 47th in overall fatality rate, 3rd in structurally deficient bridges, 31st in traffic congestion, 10th in urban Interstate pavement condition, and 37th in rural Interstate pavement condition. On spending, Arizona ranks 17th in total spending per mile and 26th in capital and bridge costs per mile.
“To improve in the rankings, Arizona needs to reduce its fatality rate. Arizona is in the bottom six of all states in each of the fatality rankings (urban, rural, and overall). Compared to neighboring and nearby states, the report finds Arizona's overall highway performance is better than California (ranks 42nd), Colorado (ranks 38th), and Nevada (ranks 27th) but worse than New Mexico (ranks 16th) and Utah (ranks 17th),” said Baruch Feigenbaum, lead author of the Annual Highway Report and senior managing director of transportation policy at Reason Foundation.
Arizona’s state-controlled highway mileage makes it the 26th largest highway system in the country.