Home Economy ConsumerAffairs: R.I. roads worst in nation

ConsumerAffairs: R.I. roads worst in nation

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PBN Staff

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03/18/2024

roads (1) — RHODE ISLAND roads are the worst in the nation, according to a new report by ConsumerAffairs. PBN FILE PHOTO / MICHAEL SALERNO

PROVIDENCE – The panning of Rhode Island’s roads continues. ConsumerAffairs, a consumer news platform based in Oklahoma, listed the Ocean State’s roads as the worst in America in its 2024 report released on March 7. The annual report reflects residents’ feedback from email surveys, along with road scores by the Federal Highway Administration, data on

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PROVIDENCE – The panning of Rhode Island’s roads continues. ConsumerAffairs, a consumer news platform based in Oklahoma, listed the Ocean State’s roads as the worst in America in its 2024 report released on March 7. The annual report reflects residents’ feedback from email surveys, along with road scores by the Federal Highway Administration, data on the fatal car crashes and the amount of money each state spends per mile of highway. The worst-in-the-nation ranking was a step back for Rhode Island. In Dec. 2022, the last time ConsumerAffairs did its study, the Ocean State scored second to last, right above Hawaii. In 2021, Rhode Island was ranked the worst. ConsumerAffairs' latest findings also generally concur with other reports on Rhode Island’s roads. In April 2023, the 27th annual Reason Foundation’s Highway Report ranked Rhode Island’s roads 42nd, a seven-spot improvement from the No. 49 ranking in 2022. In March 2023 QuoteWizard ranked Rhode Island’s roads as the worst in the nation. This year’s ConsumerAffairs study found 41% of Rhode Island’s urban roads, along with 17% of its rural roads, are rated poor. “Most Rhode Islanders live within 30 minutes of the coastline, so it’s probably not a coincidence that many of the urban roads they travel [41%] are in poor condition, according to the Federal Highway Administration,” the study found, adding that The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says both sea rise and increasing adverse weather events are major factors in road safety and quality. The ConsumerAffairs study also found Rhode Island spent $537.3 million yearly on road improvements, which was the lowest in the nation. “The only thing smaller than Rhode Island might be its budget for road expenditures, which is the smallest in the country,” the study noted. “To be fair, those dollars have to stretch to cover a little more than 6,000 miles of public roads in the tiny Ocean State, the second fewest in the country.” Hawaii has the second worst roads in the nation, according to the study, followed by California, Louisiana and Wisconsin. Massachusetts roads are ranked seventh worst in the nation, with 75% of its rural roads and 31% of its urban roads rated poor. The study found the commonwealth spent $3.33 billion yearly on road improvements. Minnesota has the best roads, according to the ConsumerAffairs study. Only 3% of that state’s rural roads and just 5% of its urban roads are rated poor. The study found $4.34 billion was spent on yearly road improvements. “With the second-lowest rate of fatalities per mile driven and the third-largest span of rural roads in the country, Minnesota puts its modest budget to good use,” the study concluded. “And the state multitasks in the country and the city, earning some of the lowest roughness percentages for both urban and rural roads in the United States.” Alabama has the second-best roads in the nation, followed by Indiana, New Hampshire and Vermont.