Places with the best-maintained highway system

[cpzilliacus]

Something new.  What state (or province) do you think has the best-maintained highway network overall?

My nominee in the United States (and there are plenty of states that I have not visited) is the Granite State, New Hampshire.  "Live Free or Die."

[TCN7JM]

I can't speak for many other states, but I have yet to see a poorly-maintained highway in South Dakota.

I'll say one thing, though. Every time I trek into Iowa or Minnesota, their highways always seem to be much worse than ours. I distinctly remember the entire length of Iowa Highway 182 being complete crap.

[Takumi]

North Carolina's highways have always looked good to me. Of course, Virginia's highways are absolutely awful, so pretty much anything halfway decent will impress me.

[pianocello]

I was impressed with the highways in Texas when I went there last week.

[Dr Frankenstein]

Ontario seems to also have very good maintenance on their provincial highways. On the other hand, since 1998, the province has a relatively low density of such provincial highways...

[texaskdog]

I was impressed with the highways in Texas when I went there last week.

However the signage makes little sense

[codyg1985]

I would nominate Tennessee and Texas as having good highways overall. Texas is always adding capacity to its system, and Tennessee keeps its roads very smooth.

[jfs1988]

Arizona, New Mexico, & Texas for their rubberized asphalt, rest areas, & interchange art.

[1995hoo]

North Carolina's highways have always looked good to me. Of course, Virginia's highways are absolutely awful, so pretty much anything halfway decent will impress me.

It's funny, when I lived in North Carolina (1995 to 1998) I thought their highways were usually in fairly poor shape because they focused too much on building new roads rather than on maintaining what they already had. I-85 from Durham to the state line was particularly atrocious, and the part from the Yadkin River to Charlotte wasn't much better. I know both of those have been rebuilt since then, and I drive on them a lot less frequently nowadays. But for the most part I've usually found Virginia's to be in a lot better shape than a number of other jurisdictions', most notably North Carolina but also Quebec.

I was quite impressed with the motorways and A-roads in England and southern Scotland (I have not been further north in Scotland to comment further). The B-roads can be a good deal trickier.

[corco]

Kansas has great roads, from my experience, as does Texas.

Arizona has mostly good ones, but some terrible ones.

[cpzilliacus]

North Carolina's highways have always looked good to me. Of course, Virginia's highways are absolutely awful, so pretty much anything halfway decent will impress me.

I drive on the primary system highway network (route numbers usually between 1 and 599) in Virginia. A lot. 

While they are not as good as they were 20 years ago (a direct consequence of the General Assembly and various Governors being unwilling and unable to increase the motor fuel tax rate to keep up with inflation), they are still better than some other states - but not as good as New Hampshire.

[kphoger]

I haven't driven in a great many states, but Texas, Illinois, and Kansas stand out to me.

[TEG24601]

Having driven across the US many times, I have to say there seems to be some disparity between the State Highways/Routes and the Interstate Highways, between states.

For Both, Washington and Indiana have great systems, albeit both are overwhelmed with traffic in some areas, and some, while not falling apart, could certainly use some preventative maintenance.

In Michigan, the Interstates in many areas seem to be falling apart, but that has been changing over the last few years and more money is being spent on them.  The Trunk Highways are usually in good shape within cities and towns, bad in townships, and ok/good elsewhere.

Illinois needs to rethink everything about how they do roads.  With the exception of the newly rebuild segments of the Skyway, and other toll roads, the roads are largely bad.

Idaho, Montana, Utah, North Dakota, and South Dakota seem to do well on all fronts, however, many of the interchanges need some work, and signs are often lacking.

Minnesota just needs to stop with all the construction, it makes it difficult to do anything, but largely the freeways are good, and the local highways are not.

Iowa, money help to fix roads.

Oregon, are you even trying?  I've not seen worse quality roads except for Michigan prior to the massive resurfacing and reconstructions projects that started around '05.

[Brandon]

I haven't driven in a great many states, but Texas, Illinois, and Kansas stand out to me.

Illinois?  The Pothole State?  BWAHAHAHA!  BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!           
That's a good one.  IDOT couldn't keep a road in good repair even if it bit them in the ass.  ISTHA on the other hand tends to do a very decent job.

[cpzilliacus]

I haven't driven in a great many states, but Texas, Illinois, and Kansas stand out to me.

Though many years ago (when it was still signed as Ill. 5), I drove the  East-West Tollway from I-294 to DeKalb.  The segment  from Aurora to DeKalb was easily the worst section of freeway-class road I had (and have) ever driven on - the pavement was so buckled and "wavy" that it was like driving through heavy seas - up and down. 

I remarked about this to someone in DeKalb and the response was an allegation (unproven to me) that the contractor(s) that built the road had bribed the construction inspectors, and the result was that ISTHA was going to have to tear it up down to the subgrade and rebuild, almost from scratch.   

Otherwise, I thought the roads in Illinois ("free" and Tollway) were in pretty decent condition. 

[TCN7JM]

Idaho, Montana, Utah, North Dakota, and South Dakota seem to do well on all fronts, however, many of the interchanges need some work, and signs are often lacking.

Define "signs lacking". I assume you mean the crap on I-94 in North Dakota where some exits don't even have a name or a posted designation.

[froggie]

While they are not as good as they were 20 years ago (a direct consequence of the General Assembly and various Governors being unwilling and unable to increase the motor fuel tax rate to keep up with inflation), they are still better than some other states - but not as good as New Hampshire.

You haven't been in northern New Hampshire, have you?  In part because of that, I would NOT put New Hampshire at the top.  Lots of state routes in central New Hampshire that have crap pavement as well.

[english si]

I was quite impressed with the motorways and A-roads in England and southern Scotland (I have not been further north in Scotland to comment further).

Clearly didn't drive on the A roads around here!

Those F1 tyre blowouts at Silverstone last week - just a symptom of driving in Buckinghamshire's roads to ruin your car on them.

And it's the A roads in the towns that are the worst offenders for potholes - not the minor roads.

[1995hoo]

I was quite impressed with the motorways and A-roads in England and southern Scotland (I have not been further north in Scotland to comment further).

Clearly didn't drive on the A roads around here!

Those F1 tyre blowouts at Silverstone last week - just a symptom of driving in Buckinghamshire's roads to ruin your car on them.

And it's the A roads in the towns that are the worst offenders for potholes - not the minor roads.

Nope, haven't been to that part of England, though I'd like to get to the Grand Prix some year.

But then, your point could pretty much apply to almost any jurisdiction anyone cites in this thread, as exemplified by the post directly above yours and the one to which it was responding!

[kphoger]

I haven't driven in a great many states, but Texas, Illinois, and Kansas stand out to me.

Illinois?  The Pothole State?  BWAHAHAHA!  BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!           
That's a good one.  IDOT couldn't keep a road in good repair even if it bit them in the ass.  ISTHA on the other hand tends to do a very decent job.

I don't remember the last time I was on an Illinois state route (an IL- designation) that was in very poor condition.  For the most part, they are pretty good.  Urban expressways and the tollways are worse, yes:  it's understandable with urban expressways, but surprising with tollways.  Even the worst sections or rural (free) Interstates in Illinois aren't as bad as the worst in most other states I've driven in.

[hbelkins]

I nominate Indiana. Every time I have driven through the Hoosier State, I've found the roads to be well-maintained. Pavement is generally in good shape and signage is adequate.

[Urban Prairie Schooner]

In states which I have had opportunity to traverse the state maintained roadways, I found Nevada, Alabama, Arizona, Florida, and especially Texas to be above average, Oregon and Washington about average, California below average (sometime vastly so), and Louisiana well below average on non-primary roads and about average on major roads.

I have also found the vast majority of state maintained highways in Mississippi to be in very good condition. The locally maintained roads, on the other hand....

[codyg1985]

In states which I have had opportunity to traverse the state maintained roadways, I found Nevada, Alabama, Arizona, Florida, and especially Texas to be above average, Oregon and Washington about average, California below average (sometime vastly so), and Louisiana well below average on non-primary roads and about average on major roads.

I have also found the vast majority of state maintained highways in Mississippi to be in very good condition. The locally maintained roads, on the other hand....

I would agree that Alabama's non-interstate highways are in generally good condition with good signage and good pavement. However, a lot of the interstates are in quite terrible condition. The signage is good, however.

[formulanone]

Those F1 tyre blowouts at Silverstone last week - just a symptom of driving in Buckinghamshire's roads to ruin your car on them.

Or just mounting the asymmetric rear tires improperly to reduce uneven wear patterns on low/medium-speed circuits, at the risk of cap-ply delamination; never mind inter-team bickering over a change in the tire construction, coupled with a sporting body which insisted on a low-grade super-soft option tire to spice up the action on the track. But I'll take your word on the B-roads...they look quite narrow with limited run-off in places!

Florida is quite fortunate, since the pavement rarely sees freezing temperatures, and in those conditions, there's limited to no precipitation. Usually intersections with heavy truck traffic where heavy braking forces ripple the pavement, or any roads located too close to a canal, are about the only trouble spots. Even most of the former secondary roads are in pretty good shape compared to those I've seen in other states, although the state roads appear to be better maintained and planned.

[cpzilliacus]

While they are not as good as they were 20 years ago (a direct consequence of the General Assembly and various Governors being unwilling and unable to increase the motor fuel tax rate to keep up with inflation), they are still better than some other states - but not as good as New Hampshire.

You haven't been in northern New Hampshire, have you?  In part because of that, I would NOT put New Hampshire at the top.  Lots of state routes in central New Hampshire that have crap pavement as well.

Not recently (as in not since the early 1970's). 

Do they have crap pavement because of low or very low  AADTs?