Kansas’s Highway System Ranks 19th in the Nation in Overall Cost-Effectiveness and Condition

Kansas’ highway system ranks 19th in the nation in overall cost-effectiveness and condition.

According to the Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation, this is a three-spot improvement from last year’s ranking of 22nd.

In safety and condition categories, Kansas’ highways rank 13th in Rural Interstate Pavement Condition, 18th in Urban Interstate Pavement Condition, 8th in Rural Arterial Pavement Condition, 19th in Urban Arterial Pavement Condition, 20th in Structurally Deficient Bridges, 28th in Rural Fatality Rate, and 8th in Urban Fatality Rate. Kansas ranks 3rd out of the 50 states in traffic congestion, and its drivers spend about 10 hours a year stuck in traffic congestion.

In spending and cost-effectiveness, Kansas ranks 47th in Capital and Bridge Disbursements, which are the costs of building new roads and bridges and widening existing ones. Kansas ranks 21st in Maintenance Disbursements, such as the costs of repaving roads and filling in potholes. Kansas’ Administrative Disbursements, including office spending that does not make its way to roads, rank 34th nationwide.

Compared to the previous report, the categories in which the state improved the most were Urban Fatality Rate (19th to 8th) and Rural Other Principal Arterial Pavement Condition (13th to 8th). Kansas worsened the most in Rural Fatality Rate (11th to 28th).

When compared to its neighboring states, Kansas’ overall highway performance is better than Nebraska’s (29th), Colorado’s (42nd), and Oklahoma’s (45th), but worse than Missouri’s (9th) and Iowa’s (35th).

Comparing its overall performance to similarly populated states, Kansas ranks better than Arkansas (21st) and Mississippi (24th). “In terms of improving in the road condition and performance categories, Kansas should focus on reducing its Capital and Bridge and Maintenance Disbursements,” 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 strongly in Rural Other Principal Arterial Pavement Condition (8th), Urban Fatality Rate (8th), and Urbanized Area Congestion (3rd), its spending inefficiencies remain key 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.