Arkansas’s Highway System Ranks 21st in the Nation in Overall Cost-Effectiveness and Condition

Arkansas’ highway system ranks 21st in the nation in overall cost-effectiveness and condition.

According to the Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation, this is a seven-spot improvement from last year’s ranking of 28th.

In safety and condition categories, Arkansas’ highways rank 40th in Rural Interstate Pavement Condition, 38th in Urban Interstate Pavement Condition, 25th in Rural Arterial Pavement Condition, 28th in Urban Arterial Pavement Condition, 22nd in Structurally Deficient Bridges, 45th in Rural Fatality Rate, and 35th in Urban Fatality Rate. Arkansas ranks 17th out of the 50 states in traffic congestion, and its drivers spend about 15 hours a year stuck in traffic congestion.

In spending and cost-effectiveness, Arkansas ranks 23rd in Capital and Bridge Disbursements, which are the costs of building new roads and bridges and widening existing ones. Arkansas ranks 5th in Maintenance Disbursements, such as the costs of repaving roads and filling in potholes. Arkansas’ Administrative Disbursements, including office spending that does not make its way to roads, rank 6th nationwide.

Compared to the previous report, the categories in which the state improved the most were Rural Other Principal Arterial Pavement Condition (36th to 25th) and Urban Fatality Rate (46th to 35th). Arkansas worsened the most in Urbanized Area Congestion (4th to 17th).

When compared to its neighboring states, Arkansas’ overall highway performance is better than Mississippi’s (24th), Oklahoma’s (45th), and Louisiana’s (46th) but worse than Missouri’s (9th) and Tennessee’s (12th).

Comparing its overall performance to similarly populated states, Arkansas ranks behind Kansas (19th), but ahead of Iowa (35th). “In terms of improving in the road condition and performance categories, Arkansas should focus on reducing its Rural Fatality Rate and improving its Rural and Urban Interstate Pavement Conditions (40th and 38th respectively),” said Baruch Feigenbaum, lead author of the 29th Annual Highway Report and senior managing director of transportation policy at Reason Foundation. “It’s Urban and Other Fatality Rates also have room for improvement, both ranking in the bottom 20 of all states.”

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.