Arizona’s Highway System Ranks 41st in the Nation in Overall Cost-Effectiveness and Condition

Arizona’s highway system ranks 41st in the nation in overall cost-effectiveness and condition.

According to the Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation, this is a 12-spot decline from last year’s ranking of 29th.

In safety and condition categories, Arizona’s highways rank 45th in Rural Interstate Pavement Condition, 24th in Urban Interstate Pavement Condition, 42nd in Rural Arterial Pavement Condition, 20th in Urban Arterial Pavement Condition, 1st in Structurally Deficient Bridges, 39th in Rural Fatality Rate and 43rd in Urban Fatality Rate. Arizona ranks 11th out of the 50 states in traffic congestion, and its drivers spend about 14 hours a year stuck in traffic congestion.

In spending and cost-effectiveness, Arizona ranks 29th in Capital and Bridge Disbursements, which are the costs of building new roads and bridges and widening existing ones. Arizona ranks 12th in Maintenance Disbursements, such as the costs of repaving roads and filling in potholes. Arizona’s Administrative Disbursements, including office spending that does not make its way to roads, rank 48th nationwide.

Compared to last year, the categories in which the state improved the most were Urbanized Area Congestion (from 30th to 11th) and Rural Fatality Rate (from 45th to 39th). Arizona worsened the most in Urban Interstate Pavement Condition (from 12th to 24th) and Administrative Disbursements (from 41st to 48th).

When compared to its neighboring states, Arizona’s overall highway performance is better than Colorado’s (42nd) and California’s (49th) but worse than Utah’s (10th), Nevada’s (25th), and New Mexico’s (39th).

Comparing its overall performance to similarly populated states, Arizona’s overall highway performance is better than Washington (48th) but worse than Tennessee (12th). “In terms of improving in the road condition and performance categories, Arizona should focus on reducing Administrative Disbursements, improving Rural Interstate Pavement Condition, and reducing Other Fatality Rate,” said Baruch Feigenbaum, lead author of the Foundation. “Reducing the percentage of poor arterial pavement and decreasing its urban and rural fatality rates should also be a priority for Arizona.”

Reason Foundation’s 29th Annual Highway Report evaluates the cost-effectiveness and performance of state-controlled highways across 13 categories, including pavement and bridge conditions, traffic fatalities, congestion, and spending. In the performance categories, a rank of 1 indicates the best outcome—for example, the lowest fatality rate or the best pavement quality—while a rank of 50 represents the worst outcomes. In the cost-effectiveness categories, a rank of 1 means the state spends the least, while a rank of 50 indicates the highest relative spending. The report’s data are primarily based on information each state submitted to the Federal Highway Administration for 2023, supplemented by deficient bridge data from Better Roads and Bridges and congestion data from INRIX. For full methodology and data sources, see the complete 29th Annual Highway Report.