Kansas Road System Ranks Second In The Nation

Kansas’ state highway system is ranked the nation’s second best in overall highway performance and efficiency in a report released today by the Reason Foundation.

The Annual Highway Report measures the condition and cost-effectiveness of state-owned roads in 11 categories, including pavement condition, deficient bridges, spending per mile and more.

“Kansas was able to achieve this performance while spending 24 percent less than the U.S. average in per-mile disbursements,” the report states.

The report’s rankings are based on data that states reported to the federal government for 2009, the most recent year with full spending statistics available. Kansas has consistently scored well in the Reason report, having been ranked number three in the nation in both 2008 and 2007.

“Kansans make the connection between good roads and the safety and economic well-being of the state. They have long supported transportation improvements not only to highways, but to the entire transportation network that includes aviation, rail and transit,” said Kansas Transportation Secretary Mike King.

The current transportation program T-WORKS, passed in 2010, is the state’s third transportation program approved by Kansas legislators and governors since the late 1980s. In 2010, Kansas highways were ranked the nation’s best in a report published in Reader’s Digest magazine.

“The T-WORKS program will address 100 percent of the state highway preservation needs over a 10-year period so we will continue to have a world-class transportation system in Kansas,” Secretary King said.