State(s) with great roads (construction, earthquakes, design)

[Gnutella]

Originally Posted by danielj72

Worst roads in America are in Michigan, Arkansas and Pennsylvaina.

According to the International Roughness Index, an IRI of less than 60 is considered "excellent"; an IRI of 60 to 94 is considered "good," and an IRI of 95 to 119 is considered "acceptable." The Federal Highway Administration examined 1,096 of Pennsylvania's 1,953 miles of Interstate highways, and found an average IRI of 66, which is very good. Of the 1,096 miles examined, 889 of them were rated "excellent" or "good," which is 81.1% of all Interstate miles examined in Pennsylvania. Another 154 miles were rated "acceptable," which means that 1,043 of the 1,096 miles examined, or 95.2%, were in at least acceptable condition.

In summary, the condition of Pennsylvania's highways is a lot like Pittsburgh's economy: just because it was lousy during the 1980's doesn't mean that it's lousy now.

[michigan83]

Kansas.

[kyle19125]

Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina all seem to do pretty well from my experiences.

[rogercobb]

The Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida have great roads. For a northern state New Hampshire has great roads.

[ram2]

Originally Posted by danielj72

Worst roads in America are in Michigan, Arkansas and Pennsylvaina. Minnesota deserves a dishonarable mention too just for the fact that thier bridge fell into the Mississippi river.

Don't forget that section of the New York State Thruway that collapsed back in 1987. Gotta love those toll roads !

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by caphillsea77

Arizona has the best freeways I've seen in any state out of the 38 I've visited. Very modern and uo to date roads there.



OH NO! Connecticut is one of the worst. I-84 west of Hartford and I-95 in Fairfield County must exist in hell.

I think the OP means quality of roads (potholes, etc). If that's the case, then I agree, Connecticut keeps up their roads pretty well - especially in comparison to surrounding states.

But you're right - some of the worst traffic in the country is in Connecticut.

[Finger Laker]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

According to the International Roughness Index, an IRI of less than 60 is considered "excellent"; an IRI of 60 to 94 is considered "good," and an IRI of 95 to 119 is considered "acceptable." The Federal Highway Administration examined 1,096 of Pennsylvania's 1,953 miles of Interstate highways, and found an average IRI of 66, which is very good. Of the 1,096 miles examined, 889 of them were rated "excellent" or "good," which is 81.1% of all Interstate miles examined in Pennsylvania. Another 154 miles were rated "acceptable," which means that 1,043 of the 1,096 miles examined, or 95.2%, were in at least acceptable condition.

In summary, the condition of Pennsylvania's highways is a lot like Pittsburgh's economy: just because it was lousy during the 1980's doesn't mean that it's lousy now.

I think you need to make the distinction between interstates and "roads" in general as well.

Also, with 1,953 miles of interstate highway in PA the sample size is about 56% even for that bucket

I've found the interstates in PA to be really hit or miss - some stretches are great though.

However, many of the routes/roads are still pretty rough drives - many of the routes through northern PA leave a lot to be desired - routes like 15, 6, 220, etc

Places like PA are in a tougher spot as they aren't built to the highway, they have some difficult terrain and some adverse weather to deal with ... you have to connect a lot of towns that outlay from the major interstates and there is only so much money to go around

[portlanderinOC]

Originally Posted by danielj72

Worst roads in America are in Michigan, Arkansas and Pennsylvaina. Minnesota deserves a dishonarable mention too just for the fact that thier bridge fell into the Mississippi river.

I agree with you on Pennsylvania, New Jersey roads suck as well.

[bentstrider]

Generally all the Mountain states and the states of Nevada, and Arizona.

Especially when you sometimes have to drive a rig to keep yourself fed, the overall smoothness, lack of grid-lock, and "not seeing another car for an hour or two" always makes a cargo haul through these areas a breeze.

Whenever I got a dispatch through the Qualcomm for a delivery to one of these areas, I never even thought twice about it.

[Gnutella]

Originally Posted by Finger Laker

I think you need to make the distinction between interstates and "roads" in general as well.

Also, with 1,953 miles of interstate highway in PA the sample size is about 56% even for that bucket

I've found the interstates in PA to be really hit or miss - some stretches are great though.

However, many of the routes/roads are still pretty rough drives - many of the routes through northern PA leave a lot to be desired - routes like 15, 6, 220, etc

Places like PA are in a tougher spot as they aren't built to the highway, they have some difficult terrain and some adverse weather to deal with ... you have to connect a lot of towns that outlay from the major interstates and there is only so much money to go around

Some of the secondary roads in Pennsylvania are in pretty bad shape, but the Interstates are generally in good condition.

One other problem Pennsylvania faces is that the head start they got on everybody when they built their highways is coming back to bite them in the ass because now there are a few segments of urban Interstates with substandard design features that can't be upgraded without spending a lot of money and acquiring massive amounts of right-of-way. In particular, the problem is with I-76 in Philadelphia, I-83 in Harrisburg and I-376 in Pittsburgh. Good news is, an upgrade for I-83 appears to be in the works soon.