Colorado’s Highway System Ranks 42nd in the Nation in Overall Cost-Effectiveness and Condition

Colorado’s highway system ranks 42nd in the nation in overall cost- effectiveness and condition.

According to the Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation, this is a one-spot improvement from last year’s ranking of 43rd.

In safety and condition categories, Colorado’s highways rank 46th in Rural Interstate Pavement Condition, 45th in Urban Interstate Pavement Condition, 33rd in Rural Arterial Pavement Condition, 36th in Urban Arterial Pavement Condition, 16th in Structurally Deficient Bridges, 33rd in Rural Fatality Rate, and 39th in Urban Fatality Rate. Colorado ranks 35th out of the 50 states in traffic congestion, and its drivers spend about 28 hours a year stuck in traffic congestion.

In spending and cost-effectiveness, Colorado ranks 27th in Capital and Bridge Disbursements, which are the costs of building new roads and bridges and widening existing ones. Colorado ranks 33rd in Maintenance Disbursements, such as the costs of repaving roads and filling in potholes. Colorado’s Administrative Disbursements, including office spending that does not make its way to roads, rank 33rd nationwide.

Compared to the previous report, the categories in which the state improved the most were Capital and Bridge Disbursements (42nd to 27th) and Maintenance Disbursements (45th to 33rd). Colorado worsened the most in Administrative Disbursements (26th to 33rd).

When compared to its neighboring states, Colorado’s overall highway performance is worse than Utah’s (10th), Kansas’ (19th), Wyoming’s (20th), Nebraska’s (29th), and New Mexico’s (39th).

Comparing its overall performance to similarly populated states, Colorado ranks worse than Minnesota (11th) and Wisconsin (31st). “In terms of improving in the road condition and performance categories, Colorado should focus on improving its Urban and Rural Interstate Pavement Conditions, as well as reducing its fatality rates,” said Baruch Feigenbaum, lead author of the 29th Annual Highway Report and senior managing director of transportation policy at Reason Foundation. “While the state performs relatively well in Structurally Deficient Bridges (16th) and Capital and Bridge Disbursements (27th), its consistently poor rankings in Rural and Urban Interstate Pavement Condition remain areas of concern.”

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.