DataWatch: The ups and downs of Wisconsin’s highway system

Wisconsin’s highways were ranked 40th of the 50 states in 2022. The federal Department of Transportation collects data on the quality of road surfaces. The data analyzed here, compiled by the Federal Highway Administration (FHA), doesn’t look at the quality of local roads.

Most of Wisconsin’s surrounding states, including Minnesota, Illinois and Michigan, made significant and successful efforts to improve their road quality after having low rankings . In 1995, Minnesota was 49th of the 50 states; 56.1% of highways were acceptable at the time.

During this time, Minnesota created multiple plans and work groups to set up the road system in the state for the following 20 years. Minnesota created various organizations and commissions to support long-term investment in the state’s road systems. In 2016, it ranked seventh in the nation with 90.2% of its highway system considered acceptable. Since 1995, the worst the state has ranked was 28th in 2007.

Similarly, Illinois ranked 44th out of the 50 states in 1997 with 80% of its highway system considered acceptable. In October of that year, it proposed various improvements of the state’s road and transport systems for 1998-2000. In 2002, the state ranked 13th with 93.5% of its roads being acceptable. Illinois’ worst rank since 1998 was 32nd in 1998, 2013 and 2022.

Wisconsin’s lowest rank was 46th in 2014, with only 58% of the highway system considered acceptable. In 2018, the highway system had its highest rank at 21st in the state. That year, gubernatorial candidate Tony Evers ran on a platform of “fixing the damn roads. ” Evers and the Republican-controlled Legislature have increased road funding in each of the past three budgets, but so far any results from that effort have yet to materialize in the national data.

For more details on local roads, read the Wisconsin Policy Forum’s April 2024 report .

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DataWatch: The ups and downs of Wisconsin’s highway system is a post from Wisconsin Watch , a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.