Illinois’s Highway System Ranks 37th in the Nation in Overall Cost-Effectiveness and Condition

Illinois’ highway system ranks 37th in the nation in overall cost-effectiveness and condition.

According to the Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation, this is a one-spot decline from last year’s ranking of 36th.

In safety and condition categories, Illinois’ highways rank 25th in Rural Interstate Pavement Condition, 34th in Urban Interstate Pavement Condition, 46th in Rural Arterial Pavement Condition, 33rd in Urban Arterial Pavement Condition, 41st in Structurally Deficient Bridges, 25th in Rural Fatality Rate, and 23rd in Urban Fatality Rate. Illinois ranks 44th out of the 50 states in traffic congestion, and its drivers spend about 46 hours a year stuck in traffic congestion.

In spending and cost-effectiveness, Illinois ranks 35th in Capital and Bridge Disbursements, which are the costs of building new roads and bridges and widening existing ones. Illinois ranks 18th in Maintenance Disbursements, such as the costs of repaving roads and filling in potholes. Illinois’ Administrative Disbursements, including office spending that does not make its way to roads, rank 27th nationwide.

Compared to the previous report, the categories in which the state improved the most were Capital and Bridge Disbursements (45th to 35th) and Maintenance Disbursements (24th to 18th). Illinois worsened the most in Rural Fatality Rate (16th to 25th).

When compared to its neighboring states, Illinois’ overall highway performance is worse than Missouri’s (9th), Kentucky’s (15th), Indiana’s (18th), Wisconsin’s (31st), and Iowa’s (35th).

Comparing its overall performance to similarly populated states, Illinois ranks worse than Ohio (5th) and Pennsylvania (36th). “In terms of improving in the road condition and performance categories, Illinois should focus on reducing its Rural Other Principal Arterial Pavement Condition and Urbanized Area Congestion,” 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 reasonably well in Maintenance Disbursements (18th) and Urban Fatality Rate (23rd), its weak rankings in Rural Arterial Pavement Condition (46th) and Urbanized Area Congestion (44th) remain areas for improvement.”

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.