Report: Red states lead in highway safety, cost. Where does your state rank?

Red states are doing better with their highways than blue states, research shows.

The Annual Highway Report from the Reason Foundation found Republican, or red, states tend to have safer and better-maintained highways and bridges at less cost than blue, or Democrat-led, states.

The study ranked “13 categories, including traffic fatalities, pavement condition, congestion, deficient bridges, and spending.”

At the top for best roads were Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Ohio – a mix of purple and red states (Virginia turned blue in January). At the bottom were Alaska, California, Washington, New York and Louisiana – three solid blue states and two red.

When the broader rankings are considered, seven of the top 10 states are red, including Missouri, and only five of the bottom 20 states are Republican-run.

Alaska had the worst rural fatality rate, while California had the “worst urban arterial pavement condition,” according to a report about the findings. Washington spent the most in multiple categories.

Results in most categories were a mix of red and blue states, but in traffic congestion, the three worst offenders – New Jersey, Massachusetts and New York – are solid blue. Others with bad traffic include California, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois and Maryland – four of the five are blue states.

The report noted top rankings went to both small and large states, some that are more urban or more rural, with several highly populated states scoring well.

While the 29th iteration of the report didn’t differ significantly from last year’s, one state, Massachusetts, rose significantly in the rankings, while two – Arizona and Idaho – declined.

The report is overall positive, noting a 10-year trend where “disbursements increased, pavement quality improved, congestion improved (on a statewide basis), the percentage of structurally deficient bridges decreased, and the fatality rate decreased.

“The 10-year average of state overall performance data shows that most state highway systems are improving over time,” it added. “System performance problems are concentrated in a handful of states (which) are finding it difficult to improve.”

See the full rankings, including pages for individual states: reason.org/highway-report/29th-annual-highway-report/