Nevada Highway System Ranks 15th Nationally For Performance, Cost-Effectiveness In Latest National Report
By Nevada News Bureau staff
CARSON CITY – Nevada’s highway system ranked 15th among the states in 2008 for performance and cost effectiveness, an improvement of three spots from the prior year, according to a national report released this month by the Reason Foundation.
In first place was North Dakota. Rhode Island ranked 50th.
Nevada ranked first among states for the quality of its bridges. In this category, Nevada reported the lowest percentage of deficient bridges at 10.96 percent, while Rhode Island reported the highest at 53.43 percent.
It did less well in the percentage of congested urban interstate mileage, ranking 40th; and in its fatality rate, ranking 41st. The report shows that 54.4 percent of the state’s urban interstate mileage is congested. The worst was California with 79.81 percent congested. Nevada reported 1.56 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles. The worst was Montana at 2.12.
Reason Foundation’s 19th Annual Highway Report tracks the performance and cost effectiveness of state-owned highway systems of the U.S. from 1984 to 2008.
Eleven indicators make up each state’s overall rating, and cover highway expenditures, pavement and bridge condition, urban interstate congestion, fatality rates and narrow rural lanes.
The study is based on spending and performance data submitted to the federal government by the state highway agencies. States rated high typically have good-condition systems along with relatively thin budgets.
Nevada Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Magruder said the agency takes pride in the overall ranking as well as in the first place ranking in the bridges category and the other categories in which the state did well.
Nevada has 5,400 miles of roads and over 1,400 bridges, with very few of them functionally or structurally deficient, he said.
Nevada is also one of seven states to report no narrow rural roadways, Magruder said.
The agency’s goal is to twofold: to address the congestion in urban areas and to maintain and improve the existing system throughout the state, he said.
In a related story, Nevada has one of the top 10 projects in the nation in the running to be named “best of the best� in transportation. Nevada made the list for its first design-build project involving the widening of Interstate 15. The NDOT project was completed 20 months early and opened in December 2009.
The American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO), AAA, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently announced the Top 10 finalists in the 2010 America’s Transportation Awards competition.
The Top 10 projects scored the highest number of overall points during four regional contests. A total of 43 projects from 29 states were judged in four categories: “Best Recovery Act,� “On Time,� “Under Budget,� and “Innovative Management.�
The Nevada project was selected in the “On Time� category for large projects. The approximately $250 million project widened the I-15 corridor north of the Las Vegas spaghetti bowl. Bridges, lighting, landscaping, sound walls and intelligent transportation systems also were improved to relieve congestion and enhance traffic flow.
The project is also in the running for the People’s Choice Award. Online voting continues through October 18 at: www.americastransportationaward.org
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